In order to solve the problem of clogging of straw when notillage sowing in Northeast China, a spiralsplit sowing strip cleaning device was designed. The arrangement of the stubble blade and the parameters of the blade curve were determined through theoretical analysis, and the main factors that affected the cleaning effect of the sowing strip were obtained: forward speed of tractor, rotating speed of spiralsplit sowing strip cleaning device and pitch. The simulation model of spiralsplit sowing strip cleaning device was established in EDEM, which was a discrete element software. Quadratic regression general combination experiments were conducted in EDEM by taking the sowing strip straw removing rate as the evaluation index, forward speed, rotating speed and pitch as the test factors. The simulation experiment results were assessed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and quadratic regression model was set up by response surface methodology with DesignExpert. Analyses showed that forward speed, rotating speed and pitch had extremely significant effect (P<0.01), and rotating speed had a greater influence than other factors. The optimizing function of DesignExpert was used for optimization. The result showed that when forward speed was 2m/s, rotating speed was 400r/min and pitch was 570mm, the sowing strip straw removing rate had optimal result, which was 92.55%. Verification field experiment was carried out to testify the regression models by using the optimal combination of parameters. The experiment value of sowing strip straw removing rate was decreased by 2.89 percentage points compared with predicted value, meeting the requirements of notill seeding. The research result provided a reference for the research on straw cleaning and antiblocking device of notillage seeder in Northeast China.