Ridger Plough (Bode Nagali)

A ridger plough, known locally as bode nagali in parts of Maharashtra and adjoining states, is a tractor- or power-tiller-mounted secondary-tillage implement that forms raised ridges and intervening furrows in a single pass. It is used in sugarcane, potato, chilli, banana, vegetable and irrigation-channel cultivation.

Function

Two or more shovel- or disc-pair units, mounted on a frame, scoop soil from the furrow line and turn it up and outward to form a ridge. The result is a continuous ridge-and-furrow profile in which crops are planted on the ridge and irrigation water flows through the furrow.

Design and specifications

Indian ridgers come in three principal types: mouldboard-pair, disc-ridger and forming-board ridgers. Disc ridgers carry concave discs angled inward to cut and turn soil; mouldboard ridgers use fixed shovel bodies. Captain Tractors, TAFE, Vishwakarma and John Deere offer 2-3 furrow ridgers in the Rs 18,000-60,000 range. Mounting is on the tractor's three-point linkage.

Operation

The ridger is operated after primary tillage with a Rotavator or Disc Rotavator. Working depth is set with the top-link and depth wheels; ridge height and furrow width are set by the spacing between ridger units. For potato and sugarcane planting, the ridger may be paired with or replaced by a Tractor Mounted Potato Planter.

Subsidy and adoption

The implement is on the SMAM subsidy and the state-mechanisation equipment lists. Adoption is essentially universal in sugarcane, potato and ridge-and-furrow vegetable cultivation.

References

Tractor Ridger. John Deere India.
Ridger. Captain Tractors.