Browsing by Subject "kylvöteknologia"

In Finland, approximately 20 percent of forest regeneration is done by sowing and the most commonly used method is mechanical direct seeding. Scots pine seeds are mostly used in sowings. It has been shown in previous studies that covering the seeds with a thin layer of soil makes the seed bed conditions better. Mechanical sowing equipment that makes it possible to cover the seeds in a controlled way has not been available earlier but technology has improved. ViperMetal-Ajutech Oy has developed a sowing bucket for forestry use which can scarify, sow seeds and cover the seeds with soil. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the covering of the Scots pine seeds by using the sowing bucket improve seedling emergence. Moreover, does mechanical covering of the seeds affect labour productivity. The experiments were set up on three previously cut regeneration sites in South Ostrobothnia and Central Finland in spring 2018. Each site had three blocks. Within the blocks, half of the patches were sown and covered and the other half was left as control and was sown without covering. The number of seedlings in the patches was counted at the end of the first growing season. The effect of covering was tested with generalized linear modelling. For productivity analysis, a video camera was installed inside the cabin of the excavator and the working times for both sowing methods were analysed by using the recordings. Covering the seeds increased the number of seedlings significantly. On average, there were almost double the number of seedlings in the covered patches. However, there was variation between the regeneration sites. Soil properties had an effect on the number of seedlings. In addition, the results indicated that covering significantly reduced the number of empty patches. Productivity analysis showed that it took about two seconds more time to cover the seeds in one patch. There was no considerable variation between the sites or the blocks. The analysis showed that covering decreased productivity per hectare and increased costs.