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Profitability of Rice Production Using a Drum Seeder

M. Alam
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh

S. Sarker
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh

M.A. Momin
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the profitability of rice production using a drum seeder developed in the department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, during transplant Aman seasons July-December, 2004 at Mymensingh. Three planting methods viz., direct seeding with drum seeder, broadcasting and transplanting were used in the experiment. The treatments were replicated three times in a randomized complete block design. The results revealed that all the treatments under the study had a significant influence on the yield and yield attributes of rice. Drum seeded crop produced the highest plant height 101.49 cm, panicle length 22.84 cm, leaf len9th 52.39 cm, root length 11.11 cm, number of panicles 382.61 m-2, number of effective tillers 8.55 hill-I, number of total tillers 9.6 hill-1, wt. of straw 29.84gm hill-1, straw yield 6882kg ha-1, harvest index 44.42 %, and biological yield 12902kg ha-1. Crop in a broadcasting method produced the highest number of ineffective tillers 2.3 hill-1. Crop established with a drum seeder resulted in a higher grain yield 5634 kg ha-1, which was at par with transplanting 5213 kg ha-1 and superior over broadcasting 3505 kg ha-1. Not only the yield but also the highest net revenue of Tk 27541 ha-1 with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.92 was also recorded by the drum seeding. The cost of crop establishment in the transplanting method was 1.71 times higher than that from seeding by the drum seeder. It might be concluded that the drum seeder technique would be more profitable than the transplanting method of rice production in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Drum seeder, Comparative study, Profitability

Location: The department of Farm Power and Machinery, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh.

Start Date: 00-07-2004

End Date: 00-12-2004

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Drum seeder, Rice, Profitability

Objectives:

With an increase in real wage in most rice-producing areas, farmers have increasingly adopted direct wet-seeding methods to save labor costs. Direct wet seeding not only saves labor but also saves time as (a) crops do not suffer from transplanting stress and (b) time-consuming transplanting operation is completely eliminated. These factors coupled with the availability of short-duration varieties made double rice cropping possible in some areas if at least one crop is direct wet-seeded (Pandey, 1994). However, it is necessary to evaluate the profitability of direct seeding over transplanting and broadcasting rice culture. Based on the above discussion a study was undertaken to determine the profitability of rice production using a drum seeder over transplanting method.

Methodology:

Drum seeder: A drum seeder was developed with locally available materials in the Department of Farm Power and Machinery.

Field experiment: Field experiments were conducted at the Bangladesh Agricultural University farm of Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. The treatments imposed were direct wet seeding by broadcasting with a seed rate of 100kg/ha (T1); direct wet seeding by a direct seeder using 70 kg/ha (T2) and farmer's practice of transplanting (T3) in which 40 kg/ha seed was. used to raise the nursery. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design; with three replications. Seeds of BR-11 (T. Aman) variety as per treatment was soaked first 24 hours in water followed by seed incubation for the next 48 hours for direct seeding treatments, while soaked seeds were incubated for 48-72 hrs for nursery raising for transplanting. Incubated seeds were sown by a direct seeder; broadcasting and transplanting were done as per treatments, respectively. Both direct seeding and broadcasting plots were kept without standing water and a boy was employed for the protection of distributed seeds from birds until they germinate. Intercultural operations such as gap filling, weeding, irrigation, pesticides and fertilizer were applied as and when necessary in order to facilitate proper growth and development of the crop. From planting to harvesting, the crops were kept under constant observation. The crops established by different planting methods attained maturity at different dates. On maturity, the crops were harvested.

During the field experiments, care was taken to ensure that the drums of the seeder were rotating correctly and that the seed outlets do not become blocked. Each of the drums was filled with 1.5 kg germinated seeds. At the end of the run, the hoppers were emptied and the remaining seed was weighed. The required number of laborers and total operating time were recorded during seeding in each treatment. The time was recorded by a stopwatch and the effective field capacity was calculated by dividing the area by the required operating time. All sorts of costs from land preparation to drying were recorded to determine the rice production cost per hectare in different methods.

The following data were collected from each of five rice plants collected from the middle of each subplot at the harvesting stage. i. Plant height (cm) ii. Panicle length (cm) iii. Root length (cm) iv. Leaf length (cm) v. Effective tillers hill-1 (number) vi. Non-effective tillers hill-1 (number) vii. Total tillers hill-1 (number) viii. The number of grains panicle-1 ix. The number of sterile spikelets panicle-1 x. The number of total spikelets panicle-1 xi. Weight of 1000 grain (g) xii. Weight of straw (gm hill-1).

An area of 1m² in the middle of each plot was selected randomly and the number of hills 1m² and panicles were recorded. The crops from each plot were harvested, dried in the field for three days, threshed, cleaned and dried. The weight of clean grain and straw was weighted by a balance. The moisture content, of the grain and straw, were determined by the oven dry method. Finally, the yields of grain and straw from each plot were converted per hectare at a given moisture content (14%). The moisture content was determined using the formula (Abedin and Chowdhury, 1982).

Source of Information: J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 5(1): 135-144, 2007 ISSN 1810-3030

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The effect of planting methods (Direct seeding, transplanting and broadcasting) was significant in respect of all the yields and yield contributing characters of rice except, plant height, panicle length, leaf length, 1000 grain weight, total number of spikelets panicle-1 and number of grains panicle-1. Direct seeding method produced higher number of total tillers hill-1, bearing tillers hill-1, highest panicle length, root length, leaf length, and plant height, weight of straw hill-1 (g), grain yield, straw yield and biological yield. From the study observed that the total cost of crop establishment in the transplanting method was 1.71 times higher than that from seeding by drum seeder. It was found that 59% of total costs for crop establishment in transplanting method come from uprooting and transplanting. The maximum grain and straw production was respectively 5634 kg ha-1, 6882 kg ha-1 in direct seeding method. The net profit was highest (27541 Tkha-1) for direct seeding with BCR 1.92, on the other hand net profit for transplanting was 22596 Tk ha-1 with BCR 1.73 and broadcasting 4254 Tk ha-1 with BCR 1.13. The highest and the lowest cost of the direct seeder was 855 Tk/ha and 55 Tk/ha, respectively. The economic life of the machine was 8 years and the cost per hectare was Tk 68 for planting 20 hectares of land in a year.

Based on the results of the study, it can be summarized that direct seeding provides more yield than broadcasting and transplanting system. The direct seeder technique can provide definitely more sustainable production in those areas where labour is costly. However, careful water management and proper leveling of the field would be required in the direct seeded crop.

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