Development of a Precision Seeder for Direct Seeding of Rice on Dry Paddy

In order to save labor and cost, direct seeding has been considered as an important alternative to the machine transplanting in rice cultivation. Current direct seeding machines for rice in Korea drill irregularly under various operating conditions. This study was conducted to develope a precision seeder which enables the accurate, even-spaced in row placement of rice seeds at uniform depths of 3-4 cm on dry paddy. Design, construction and performance evaluation of the precision seeder were carried out. The tractor rear-mounted type 8-rows precision seeder which performs seeding in addition to fertilizing, ditching, and rotary tilling works on dry paddy was developed. Main components of the seeder were ditcher and leveller, rotary tiller, powered roller type furrow opener, seeding device, powered roller type furrow covering and firming device, hydraulic unit, seeding speed control system, power transmission system, hitch and frame. Ditching, furrow opening, and seed covering and firming performances were good and seeding depths of 2-4 cm could be maintained. Planting accuracies and planting precisions were within 13.6%, and 31.2%, respectively, for planting space of 15 cm, and seeding velocity of 0.5 m/s. These mean variations of average planting space were within 2.1 cm, and 90% of seeds in a hill were seeded within 4.7 cm of hill length, respectively. Error ratios between setting planting space and measured average planting space were shown within 6.7%. Therefore the seeder showed good planting performance up to seeding velocity of 0.5 m/s in field tests. And field capacity of the seeder was about 0.28 ha/hour.