Machinery for Direct Sowing of Rice in Agricultural Conditions

Cuban agriculture, to achieve the sustainability of agricultural systems, needs to initiate a transition process towards conservation agriculture practices; which implies a change in production systems and the technologies they use.Conservation agriculture (CA) implies a change in planting technologies and mechanized systems.Machinery specifically designed for the adaptation of components destined to sow in tilled soil and without residue on the surface is required, so that they are able to operate with crop residues or cover plants in different forms and situations.In Cuba, although the basic principles of conservation agriculture have been introduced in an experimental way with good results in some crops, there is not enough experience of the sowing machines to be used in a CA system based on the reduced mobilization of the soil, the coverage permanent surface area and crop rotation.In the following work, a review of the main changes of direct seeders for CA in rice agroecosystems is presented.