China ranks as the world’s leading potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) producer, while the poor seeding machinery performance limited a higher input–output ratio in potato cultivation and impeded sustainable development. We developed an advanced air-suction mulai-arm potato planter (ASPP) that incorporated integrated side-deep fertilization, automated seed feeding, negative-pressure seed filling, seed transportation, positive-pressure seed delivery, soil covering, and compaction. The study proposes a Negative-pressure seed extraction mechanism that minimizes seed damage by precisely controlling suction pressure, and the near-zero-speed seed delivery mechanism synchronizes seed release with ground speed, reducing bounce-induced spacing errors. Furthermore, the structural configuration and operation principle of ASPP were systematically elucidated, and key performance parameters and optimal values were identified. We conducted a randomized complete block design plot trial comparing the spoon-belt potato planter (SBPP) and spoon-chain potato planter (SCPP), evaluating sowing quality, seedling emergence rate (ER), potato yield (PY), and comprehensive economic benefits. The results revealed that plant spacing index (PSI), missed-seeding index (MI), re-seeding index (RI), and coefficient of variation (CV) of ASPP were 90.05%, 3.78%, 2.32%, and 7.93%, respectively. The mean ER values for ASPP, SBPP, and SCPP were 94.76%, 85.42%, and 83.46%, respectively, with the ASPP showing improvements of 10.93% and 13.54% over SBPP and SCPP. However, the SBPP and SCPP exhibited greater emergence uniformity than ASPP. The mean PY value was 37,205.25, 32,973.75, and 34,620 kg·ha⁻¹ for ASPP, SBPP, and SCPP. The ASPP outperformed the SBPP and SCPP by 12.83% and 7.47%. Overall, ASPP demonstrated balanced and superior performance across the above-mentioned indicators, demonstrating its potential to enable precision agriculture in tuber crop cultivation.

Saline-alkali soil has the characteristics of high density, high firmness and poor permeability. Aiming at the problems of shallow subsoiling depth, large subsoiling specific resistance and small soil bulkiness in subsoiling operation in saline-alkali soil, this paper establishes a mathematical model of the specific resistance of a broken line subsoiler and uses genetic algorithm and the discrete element method to optimize the structure design of the subsoiler. Firstly, the mathematical model was developed by analyzing the force of the subsoiler in the working process. The genetic algorithm was used to solve the problem, and three geometric models of the broken line subsoilers were fitted. Then, EDEM software was used to simulate this, and the tillage performance was evaluated with draft force, soil disturbance area, subsoiling specific resistance and soil bulkiness as the indexes and verified by field experiment. The results showed that the subsoiling specific resistance of the three broken line subsoilers was significantly lower than that of the standard subsoiler in the simulation test. Compared to the standard subsoiler, the soil disturbance area of the broken line subsoiler-B increased by 12%, the draft force decreased by 19%, the subsoiling specific resistance decreased by 26% and the bulkiness increased by 6%. The field experiment results showed that the broken line subsoiler-B reduced the traction force and improved the tillage efficiency compared to the standard subsoiler, which was consistent with the analysis results of EDEM. The broken line subsoiler can effectively enhance the quality of cultivated land.