Publication

Abstract : Agriculture sector is the main source of food. This sector also forms country's backbone and provides employment. With increasing population, it is necessary to produce food in a sustained manner. This can be accomplished by mechanizing the farming operations. Another advantage of mechanization is that it circumvents the problem of labor shortage when needed in the peak time of land preparation and harvesting. It also increases the crop yield through proper preparation of land, crop protection, efficient irrigation and minimizing the loss during the harvest. This paper focuses on the mechanization of rice planting. A review of the available rice planting methods, transplanting machines and their merits and limitations are elaborated. A new design has been proposed to overcome the problems in the existing design. With this design one can plant the seedling vertical to the ground at sufficient depth. This not only avoids the extrication of the seedlings but also ensures uniform ripening of the rice plants.