Further development of a manual rice seedling transplanter
- Bangkok : Asian Institute of Technology, 1985
- 83 p.
- Thesis ; no. AE-85-12 .
- Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. AE-85-12 .
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development
Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1985
Field tests were performed on the AIT developed manual rice transplanter IA-2 under three seedling ages : 21-24 days, 25-28 days and 29-32 days; three water depths: 0-3cm, 3.1-6cm and 6.1-10cm: 6 variations of sedimentation period: 1,3,5,7,9 and 11 days after final levelling and standard soil condition (1 plowing, 1 puddling and then levelling 7-10 days before transplanting). Machine performance was also compared with traditional hand transplanting method. the machine performed better with 25-28 days old seedlings having non-productive hills ranging from 7.5%-12.5% in all three water depths. The machine can be used after the 5th day after final levelling in Bangkok clay soil. The field capacity was measured to be 0.0203 ha/hr at an efficiency of 56% and field machine index 74.4%. Performance of the transplanter was satisfactory in comparison to traditional hand transplanting method. It saved about 40% labor requirement (excluding) nursery preparation) over hand transplanting. At present wage level(1985) in Thailand, machine planting has a break even level at 6.0 ha for single cropping and 3.0 ha for double cropping per year. Possible modifications were recommended for further development to improve performance.