Study on Planting Performance of Power Operated Paddy Transplanter Suitable for Root Washed Seedlings

Abstract

A four row power operated paddy transplanter suitable for root washed seedlings was developed at College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, situated in the District Ratnagiri (Maharashtra), India. The length of seedling, shoot diameter, number of leaves and weight of seedling varies with the age of seedling. Similarly, the hardness of soil, seedling anchoring power and draft requirement varies with the period of soil settlement after the puddling. Therefore, study of planting performance of the newly developed power operated paddy transplanter was undertaken. Field trials were conducted in February, 2017. Three experimental plots each of size 30 x 15 m were selected for the trials. The depth of tilling and puddling was kept as 150 mm. The transplanting was done in the puddled soil after the settlement period of 24, 48 and 72 h and the seedlings with an age of 28 days, 35 days and 42 days were used for transplanting. The required number of hills per m area was found at 48 h settlement period and number of seedlings per hill required were found with 35 and 42 days old seedlings. The highest planting efficiency (90.24%) was recorded with 35 days old seedlings transplanted at 48 h of soil settlement period.