Development and Performance Evaluation of a Two-row Mechanical Paddy Transplanter

Abstract

Background: Paddy is one of the most important staple food in most south-east Asian countries. It is grown either by direct sowing or by transplanting under wetland conditions depending upon the availability of water. India produces 116.48 million tonnes of rice with a productivity of 2659 kg ha-1. Manual transplanting of rice seedlings by hand is generally done in stooping posture which is laborious and drudgery. It also requires a huge amount of labour during peak season. Considering the need and to suit the hilly region, a two-row manually operated paddy transplanter was developed. Methods: For picking the seedlings, a four-bar mechanism was selected as the basis of design. The machine construction consists of a float, seedling tray, fixed-fork type finger, chain sprocket system and lugged wheel. For operation, the operator has to rotate the crank handle which transmits the motion through the chain sprocket system and four-bar linkage which in turn picks the seedlings and plants them onto the soil. Result: The machine was tested in the actual field condition and was working satisfactorily. The designed fixed fork-type finger can hold 5 to 8 seedlings at a time. The developed machine was found to be comfortable working at a speed of 0.5 kmph. The actual field capacity of the machine was 0.02 ha/h.