Evaluation of Mechanical Transplanter in Unpuddled Transplanting of Wet Season Rice in Sandy Loam Soil

Alternate to puddling, unpuddled transplanting is a new concept of rice cultivation. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of mechanical rice transplanter in unpuddled condition under minimum tillage practices in drought prone zone representing sandy loam soil in wet season 2012. Tillage treatments were (i) conventional puddling (CT) in puddled condition and (ii) no tillage (NT) (iii) bed planting (BP) (iv) and strip tillage (ST) in unpuddled condition. Results indicated that unpuddled transplanting saved fuel, time and labour remarkably in land preparation. Mechanical transplanting reduced drudgery of the farmers and ensured timely operation. Transplanting time was higher in unpuddled plot than puddle one. Floating hill was also higher in unpuddled plot due to increase in soil hardness and unable to provide proper anchorage and gripping force to seedlings. Grain yield of unpuddled transplanting was similar to puddled transplanting. Water productivity was the lowest in unpuddled than puddled transplanting. Input cost was higher in conventional puddling than unpuddled transplanting. Mechanical transplanting overcome the constraints of manual transplanting in unpuddled condition. It might be an effective technology in rice production with limited seedling floating (9-17%) in sandy loam soil.