Development and performance evaluation of a mat type nursery raising device

In the Tarai region the rice transplanting is accomplished mainly by the manual method. Manual transplanting is a labour intensive operation comprising of nursery raising, uprooting of the seedlings, transporting and transplanting them in the main field, with a total labour requirement of about 280-350 man-h/ha. High labour demand during peak transplanting period adversely affects the timeliness of this operation, thereby reducing the crop yield. To correct the problem, mechanical transplanting could be considered as the most promising option. The major constraint in the adoption of mechanical transplanters is the complex and labour intensive technique of raising mat type nursery in frames on perforated plastic sheets. Another constraint is unevenness of plant population in the mats. With a view to reduce the drudgery in raising mat-type nursery, a mat-type nursery raising device was developed and tested. The developed device performed satisfactorily and gave the desired density of 80-100 g seed per mat with three passes of the device at 1.03 mm sprout length. The thickness of the soil layer could be also maintained to 20 mm, as required in a single pass, through out the length of the mat. It saved both time and labour of 72.02 and 33.33 percent, respectively, over the manual method. The cost of raising mat type nursery for one hectare (400 mats) was Rs.299.5, compared to Rs.1,608.75 with manual method.