The purpose of this research was to examine the performance of a modified vacuum seeder for hill drop sowing of sesame ( Sesamum indicum L.) following wheat ( Triticum aestivum) for no-till and reduced tillage farming. Tests were conducted during the growing seasons of 2008 and 2009 in the Bati Akdeniz Agricultural Research Institute's fields in Antalya, Turkey. A fluted coulter and double disc-type furrow opener were mounted on each unit of a common vacuum seeder. A seed plate modified to achieve hill-dropping of seeds was used in the metering mechanism of the seeder. Mean plant number per hill, coefficient of variation of plant number per hill, mean hill distance, coefficient of variation of hill distance, scattering distance ratio along the length of the row, sowing depth uniformity, and percent emergence of seeds and of hills were determined. Uniformity of hill spacing obtained from no-till plots was lower than from reduced and conventional tillage plots. Treatment effects were compared for three sesame seed varieties. No-till decreased the percent emergence of both seeds and hills for all varieties. The ranges of scattering distance ration and the coefficient of variation of hill distance were within the acceptable range of variability for all the tillage systems. In order to improve the emergence of individual seeds as well as of hills for no-till sowing of sesame, a more uniform sowing depth is needed. The conventional metering system of the seeder was sufficient for hill dropping of sesame seeds, but the performance of the soil engaging parts of the seeder was not satisfactory for no-till sowing. The negative effect of a high variation in sowing depth on percent emergence of seeds was obvious for no-till conditions. The general performance of the modified vacuum seeder was satisfactory for the reduced tillage system studied.
