Checkrow Planting

a method of sowing agricultural crops in which a few seeds are distributed in each corner of a square (rectangle).

With checkrow planting, plants are more evenly distributed in the field and make better use of the soil and air nutrition and of the sunlight, expenditure of seed is minimized, mechanized work between rows both longitudinally and laterally is facilitated (permitting maintenance of the friability of the soil and eliminating weeds), and manual labor is significantly reduced. Checkrow planting is used for sowing corn, sunflowers, cotton, castor-oil plants, some vegetables, and other crops. In the USSR checkrow planting was first used in 1932– for corn (in the Ukrainian SSR). The spacing of clusters and the number of seeds in the cluster is established according to the biological characteristics of the crop, the soil conditions, and the moisture content in the soil. For example, in most regions the cultivation of corn for grain and of sunflower for seed brings best results when the spacing of clusters is 70 cm in each direction and there are two plants per cluster. Tractor-mounted SKNK-4, SKNK-6, SKNK-8, STKh-4A, STKh-4B, and other checkrow seeders are used for planting. Seeds are graded by size and their field germinating capacity is calculated to ensure accurate sowing of the necessary number of plants in a cluster.