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Planter for pre-sprouted potatoes - an advantage when cultivating new potatoes

In cooperation with farmsupport, ROPA has created a planter for pre-sprouted potatoes.Gecko, the new hand planter from ROPA, combines gentle planting of pre-sprouted potatoes without breaking the sprouts with high effectiveness and good working conditions for the personnel. 


Two operators work on each planting row. They put the sprouted potatoes lengthwise on the gentle and protective belts, which convey potatoes without any further stress and grinding contact until the tubers are precisely deposited in the soil. This technology allows optimal planting of potatoes with up to 12 cm length at a driving speed of 3.5 km/h. The distance between plants can be variably adjusted in 16 stages.

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Planting without breaking the sprouts.

After two years of field trials and use on farms specialised in early potato cultivation, we can confirm that the desired advantages in yield and vegetation have been achieved. The ROPA Gecko can be ordered for the 2024 planting season and will be displayed at the Agritechnica this year.

User-friendly technology, precise depositing and efficient organisation of boxes

The ROPA Gecko provides space for 5 pallets for efficient logistics of the planting material. Moreover, ROPA also offers additional options such as a protective roof, drawbar steering, tramline deactivation and more for even greater convenience.

Loading area

The four-row planter can be loaded with up to 4 pallets on which the pre-sprouted potatoes are stored in boxes and has some additional storage space for the empty boxes.

Circulation of boxes

An operator loads the conveyor belts with full boxes of potatoes and ensures that the returned boxes are cleared regularly.

Planting

8 operators take the pre-sprouted tubers from boxes on the conveyor belt and put them into the planting belts.

Planting belts

The mechanically driven planting belts lay the potatoes in 4 rows with a row distance of 75 cm.

Planting distance

The planting distance can be adjusted easily and quickly in 16 stages from 20 cm to 50 cm.

Technology and features:

• Planting capacity: > 6 ha per an 8-hour working day
• Planting speed: 3.5 km/h
• Drawbar steering
• Mechanical drive
• Tramline deactivation
• Protective roof with lighting
• 5 spaces for pallets, 1 of which for empty boxes
• 4 rows with 75 cm row distance
• Planting distance adjustable in 16 stages
• Conveyor for boxes with box return function - easy loading and unloading

New potatoes planted with ROPA Gecko hand planting machine

This technology ensures the best possible protection of the pre-sprouted potatoes and allows to achieve daily yields of about 6 ha. The combination of the gentle treatment of the pre-sprouted potatoes and the precisely adjustable planting distance ensures optimal planting of the potatoes as well as fast and uniform coverage of the field and homogeneous sorting of the crop.

For road transportation, the hand planter can be folded up to a road width of 3.0 m.

Optional equipment

Options such as a protective roof, lighting, a hand washing tank or a storage compartment offer the planting staff the best comfort even under rough weather conditions. Optional drawbar steering or tramline deactivation simplifies the driver's work.

About Farmsupport and ROPA

For about 15 years, Farmsupport has been working solely in the field of new potato cultivation in more than 20 countries and is an expert in this branch. For example, farmsupport invented a 360° lighting system to generate stable potato sprouts. The research based on the non-homogeneous sprouting of the potato crop helped to find what causes frequent breaking of sprouts in the planters.
ROPA Fahrzeug- und Maschinenbau GmbH has the expertise and knowledge to solve this technical problem. Both companies combined their expertise to turn a long-standing problem into a vision: planting without broken sprouts! First the prototypes were developed. They resulted in a user-friendly machine without electronics, which can be used worldwide.

Impressions