Nghe An: Slow to bring transplanters into the fields

Reduce time, cost and effort for farmers

This spring crop, many localities in Nghe An are promoting the application of mechanization in agricultural production, bringing tray seedling technology and transplanting machines into rice production to reduce time, costs and effort for farmers.

Rice transplanting by machine in Nghia Trung commune, Nghia Dan. Photo: Van Truong

Previously, to plant more than 6 sao of rice fields, Mrs. Tran Thi Minh's family in Tho Thanh commune, Yen Thanh had to spend more than 10 days. The steps of sowing, pulling out the seedlings, and transplanting were all done manually, so Mrs. Minh had to work very hard. However, from the Spring crop of 2022, she no longer has to worry or rush, but just stands on the edge of the field to monitor.transplanterdo it for me. Ms. Minh said: “By using a machine, I don’t have to find someone to plant for me. The cost of planting for me is quite high at 350,000 VND/day, while in less than 2 hours, more than 6 sao of rice can be planted by machine; the cost of planting by machine is cheap, only from 140,000 - 150,000 VND/sao.

Mr. Ho Sy Quang - Chairman of Tho Thanh General Agricultural Service Cooperative added: Initially, it was very difficult to implement machine planting because up to now, farmers' rice production has mainly been done by traditional methods. However, by implementing effective models right in the commune, from 80 hectares, now using tray seedling and transplanting machines has reached 200 hectares/480 hectares of rice. From the results, Tho Thanh General Agricultural Service Cooperative has also expanded tray seedling planting to other communes.

Rice seedlings are planted using machines in Trung Thanh commune, Yen Thanh. Photo: Van Truong

According to the representative of Yen Thanh District Agriculture Department, sowing rice in trays and transplanting rice brings many benefits, not only saving production costs, increasing labor productivity but also taking care of rice conveniently. This spring crop, Yen Thanh has planted over 2,000 hectares, concentrated in the communes of Lien Thanh, Nam Thanh, Trung Thanh, Tho Thanh...

Quynh Luu district has currently applied rice transplanters into production since 2021. This crop applies tray sowing and rice transplanters on an area of ​​about 20 hectares, concentrated in some communes such as Quynh Lam, Quynh Tan...

According to experts, applying machine planting is more effective than sowing and transplanting by hand. Thanks to machine planting, farmers have 10-12% higher profits than manual planting. Applying machine planting rice with standard density, in rows, easy to control weeds, pests, and less use of pesticides.

Quickly remove difficulties

Using a transplanter is the optimal solution to solve the difficulties of urgent crop seasons. Although it brings many benefits, expanding the area of ​​transplanting by machine is not easy to do. Ms. Vu Thi Bich Hang - Head of the Department of Agriculture of Quynh Luu district said:Quynh Luuapplied tray-based rice production from the beginning of 2021 with an area of ​​30 hectares, but this spring crop reduced to only 20 hectares.

Mixing ingredients to make tray seedlings at Tho Thanh General Agricultural Service Cooperative, Yen Thanh. Photo: Van Truong

The reason for the decrease in production of rice seedlings by machine is due to the biggest obstacle being the production of tray seedlings. To produce tray seedlings, a large area is needed but it is only used seasonally. Production support tools such as seeding racks, tray seedlings, sowing equipment, substrates... require a large investment, while the exploitation time is only 20-30 days/year.

According to the representative of the Yen Thanh District Department of Agriculture, although the efficiency is high, the mechanization rate in the planting stage is still low. Yen Thanh District has over 9,000 hectares of rice, but currently only 500 hectares have been planted with tray-based rice seedlings. The reason is that tray-based rice seedling production requires large investments in infrastructure such as warehouses, factories and premises to gather tray-based rice seedlings, especially tray-based rice seedling production facilities must buy substrates and cannot produce them themselves, so production costs are high. In addition, the grassroots staff is still lacking and weak in expertise, most of the people using machines and equipment have not been trained in basic knowledge...

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection of the province said: Nghe An province has planted more than 90,000 hectares of spring rice, of which only 5,000 hectares have been planted with harvesters, concentrated in Thanh Chuong, Dien Chau, Yen Thanh districts... This is still too little. To overcome difficulties in expanding the area of ​​​​machine planting, Nghe An Department of Agriculture is developing a plan to encourage organizations and individuals to develop tray seedling and machine planting.

Plating tray production line in Yen Thanh district. Photo: Van Truong

According to experts, to overcome difficulties in expanding the area of ​​​​machine planting, localities need to build demonstration models, organize field workshops to propagate and mobilize farmers to respond to the application and expansion of this new technical progress. Each locality should build a facility for producing tray seedlings, repairing and maintaining transplanting machines organized by agricultural extension officers in coordination with enterprises, to build a place for training, coaching and consulting services for farmers.

Localities should focus on directing the consolidation of plots, land exchange, and improving the quality of infrastructure systems serving production such as irrigation, transportation, and internal irrigation systems to facilitate mechanization in rice production. There should be synchronous support policies from the city to districts, towns, and grassroots to encourage and promote mechanization in rice production. Districts need to assign specific targets and plans to each commune, regularly urge, inspect, and supervise to promptly remove obstacles in the production process./.

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