Actual challenges: Developing low cost no-till seeding technologies for heavy residues; small-scale no-till seeders for two wheel tractors

Small farmers from South Asia and other parts of the world use two wheel tractors as the main means of land preparation and other farm operations due to small farm and field size combined with an affordable price. These units have become very popular, and over 500,000 are manufactured annually worldwide. There are over 350,000 operating in Bangladesh alone. Two low cost and robust no-till seeders to suit two wheel tractors (12HP) have been developed at the Wheat Research Centre (WRC), Dinajpur, Bangladesh (with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research). This follows initial research and development work assisted by CIMMYT and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute from 1995 to 2004.