Ridge Seeding of Pre-germinated Rice in Puddle Fields

摘要

Rising production cost of transplanted rice and labor scarcity are driving farmers in India to adopt direct seeding of pre-germinated seeds. Pre-germinated seeding eliminates nursery raising and rice transplanting. Farmers broadcast pre-germinated seeds which results in uneven plant population and hinders farm operations. Manual drum seeders are available, but pulling them involves drudgery. In addition, their capacity is low. Further, the seeds sown by both methods often get submerged and results inreduced emergence. To address these issues this study was undertaken to evaluate different seeding methods. The methods selected were ridge seeding by a self-propelled rice ridge seeder and flat seeding by i) self-propelled power seeder, ii) manual drumseeder and Hi) manual broadcasting, in addition to manual transplanting. The emergence rate for ridge seeding on trapezoidal ridges was 4.1 to 6.9% higher than other methods. The crop yields for all methods were comparable except manual broadcasting. The net return from ridge seeding was higher by Rs 3433 (US $ 71.5) per ha and the cost of production was lower by Rs. 4433 per ha when,, compared to transplanting. Ridge seeding eliminated drudgery involved in pulling manual drum seeder and reduced the cost of rice production.