Rapessed is becoming very interesting mainly due to its importance for biofuels production.
In Portugal there is not a great experience with this crop. It is important to get and spread information about all the aspects involved, including mechanical seeding.
The seed small size and the necessary low density of seeds per hectare – 3 to 5 kg, impose important specifications to select an adequate seeder.
Field trials to evaluate crop and seeder performance were implemented in Northeast of Portugal in autumn 2011 with cultivar ES Hidromel.
In this paper we will focus on mechanical seeding. Seeder working time was measured by a chronometer, considering elementary operations like effective seeding time and turning time. Seeder performance is evaluated in hectares per hour. Results are discussed.
