The substantial range of tillage and seeding equipment is outlined in Tillage and Seeding Machines, EOLSS on-line, 2002) and summarized in Tables 5 and 6. Broadcast seeding and seed drilling are classical methods that are popular for sowing cereals (wheat, barley and oats) into cultivated soil. Even in countries where farming is beginning to be mechanized, power tillers and tractors are still restricted to tillage and a few other operations. This paper discusses the history of mechanization, the major reasons for the wide diversity observed, the options for developing countries in extending mechanization, and the role of government policy in influencing the choice of technology.

The training of operatives involves a partnership between equipment users, equipment suppliers, maintenance and repair services, extension services (where available), research and educational institutions, and the communications media (farming press, radio, TV, Internet). Farm relief services are an integral part of a backup system where illness or other difficulties prevent a farmer from operating equipment effectively.

Agricultural employment also fell substantially, both in absolute and relative terms, and labor was redeployed outside agriculture. The number of workers per farm was stable, while farm sizes grew rapidly from an average of 167 acres in 1950 to 401 acres in 1978.

Transport, along with primary tillage, is one of the first uses of new sources of mobile power. Where distances are long, trucks rather than tractors are used for farm-to-market transport. Harvesting. Without machinery, harvesting is very labor-intensive.The drill soon fell into oblivion. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, farmers in Europe tried to design better seed drills for small grains. Seed drills with mechanical dribbling devices were commonly used in the United States in the 1860s and 1870s. In continental Europe their use started slightly later, became widespread in the late nineteenth century, and was followed a decade later by maize drills and cotton seeders. The use of seed drills similar to the Mesopotamian drill has been growing rapidly in India since 1966.

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