Scientists at the Farm Machinery and Postharvest Technology Division of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) have developed an affordable seed sowing machine for producing mat-type seedlings in trays suited to rice transplanters.
The machine was handed over to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), farm machinery manufacturers, local entrepreneurs and farmers at a workshop in the division's meeting room on the morning of Saturday, 12 November. BRRI director general Dr. Md. Shahjahan Kabir presided, with additional secretary (extension) Robindrashree Barua as chief guest and additional secretary (planning) Mahbubul Haque Patwary as special guest.
Why it was needed
Presenting the keynote, Dr. A. K. M. Saiful Islam, director of the SFMRA project and chief scientific officer at BRRI, said transplanting by machine is increasing, and preparing mat-type seedlings in trays is an important step. Entrepreneurs and farmers now scatter seed by hand, which is laborious, slow, costly and uneven, and uneven sowing increases missing hills. The machine makes the work easy and fast and will help create rural entrepreneurs through community-based seedling production.
What the machine does
- It can be made easily in local workshops from readily available materials and operated by women or men after brief training.
- It sows sprouted seed in a tray in one second, at 95 to 160 grams per tray, and one worker can sow 14,400 trays a day.
- After sowing, it covers the top layer (6 mm) with fine soil, and the seed rate can be adjusted for different varieties.
- It weighs 9 kg and is easy to carry; its hopper holds 9 kg of seed, enough for 60 to 75 trays at a time.
- Its estimated market price is only Tk 10,000 to Tk 12,000.
Robindrashree Barua said farm machinery must be made with practical use in mind, reducing import dependence so the country uses its own large market, benefiting manufacturers, local entrepreneurs and farmers. After the workshop, the machine was handed to DAE and distributed to entrepreneurs and farmers.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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