A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999

The study was carried out to understand the present situation of mechanization of the Song Hau Farm, CanTho, Vietnam. The objective was to study the existing cultivation practices in the farm and develop a plan for mechanization. A survey using the pre-testing and rural appraisal technique was conducted to collect the necessary information of the farmers and the farm. The result showed that with identical dose of fertilizers applied and similar method of field operations, the yield was significantly higher on the alluvial soil plots than on the aerated alluvial soil plots. Most of the plots had seed broascasted and the use of walking type row seeder gave the similar yield on trial plots with only half the seed rate. The calculation showed that the cultivation methods using row seeder and reaper gave the lowest operating cost. A plan was developed with two options based on the row seeder-reaper and row seeder-combine harvester. In both options, the number of medium size tractor needed was 48 units, compared to 60 units being used at present. Likewise, the number of threshers required in option 1 and in option 2 were 213 and 166 units, respectively, compared to 400 units at present. The number of other machines and labors required were also calculated. Number of reapers or the combine harvesters that should be added in the study area was estimated so as not to replace the local labor used for harvesting.