COVER A DEEP HOLE| Proper Land Preparation for Hybrid | Drone Direct Seeding

Описание: #agriculture #hybridrice #inbredrice #organicfarming #naturalfarmingsystem

✓ To cover a deep hole in a rice field for land leveling, you should use excavated soil from high spots in the same field to ensure material compatibility and proper water management. The process should be integrated into your overall land preparation, ideally involving machinery like a tractor with a drag bucket or a leveling blade, and the final leveling is best achieved when the field has about 5 cm of water. 

Step-by-Step Method

Excavate soil from high spots: Identify the high mounds or elevated areas in your field. Use a plow, rotavator, or a four-wheel tractor with a bucket/blade to dig up and move this soil.

Transport and deposit soil: Move the excavated soil to the location of the deep hole and deposit it there. For very large or deep holes, you may need substantial amounts of soil.

Incorporate organic matter (optional but recommended): Mix organic matter, such as compost or well-decomposed rice straw, into the fill soil if available. This enhances the soil fertility and structure in the newly filled area.

Rough leveling: Use a tractor with a rear-mounted blade or a drag bucket to spread the deposited soil evenly, filling the hole and roughly leveling the surrounding area. This should be done in multiple passes, potentially at different angles, to ensure an even surface.

Flood the field: Irrigate the field until it has approximately 5 cm of standing water. This helps in identifying remaining high and low spots and makes the soil easier to puddle and level.

Final leveling (Puddling): Use a wooden plank pulled by a power tiller or a draft animal (or a laser-guided system for best results) across the flooded field. The plank will drag soil into minor depressions and ensure a smooth, uniform surface where no soil mounds are visible above the water surface.

Consolidate and check: Allow the field to settle. A well-leveled field will have uniform water depth, which is crucial for uniform crop growth, efficient water and nutrient use, and reduced weed and snail problems. 

Key Benefits of Proper Land Leveling

Increased Yields: A well-leveled field can increase rice yields significantly by ensuring uniform crop maturity and growth.

Efficient Water Management: Uniform water distribution reduces the amount of water required for irrigation and land preparation (by as much as 10%).

Better Weed Control: Even water coverage helps suppress weed growth, reducing labor required for weeding.

Maximized Fertilizer Efficiency: Nutrients are distributed evenly, preventing runoff to low spots and ensuring the crop utilizes the fertilizer effectively. 

source: IRRI

Drone direct seeding of hybrid rice offers significant benefits in efficiency, cost reduction, and labor savings, while studies show it can produce comparable to higher yields than manual broadcasting methods. 

Benefits of Drone Direct Seeding

Increased Efficiency and Speed: Drones can seed one hectare in as little as 15-30 minutes, drastically faster than manual methods which can take a full day for the same area.

Reduced Labor Costs and Shortages: This technology minimizes the need for manual labor for sowing, a significant cost factor in traditional rice farming, addressing labor scarcity issues.

Precision and Uniform Distribution: Equipped with GPS technology, drones ensure even and consistent seed spreading, promoting optimal crop density and minimizing seed wastage.

Optimal Seed Rate Usage: Drone seeding typically uses a lower, more effective seed rate (around 40 kg/ha) compared to manual broadcasting (which often uses 60 kg/ha or more), indicating more efficient use of inputs.

Integrated Crop Management: The same drone technology can be used for other applications like fertilizer application and pesticide spraying, enabling a comprehensive, data-driven approach to farm management. 

Yield Comparison

Higher than Manual Broadcasting: Field experiments have shown that drone seeding can result in significantly higher yields compared to manual broadcasting (e.g., one study recorded 6.85 t/ha for drone vs. 6.38 t/ha for manual, and another reported a 13% yield increase).

Comparable to Mechanical Seeding: Yields from drone seeding at optimal seed rates (around 40 kg/ha) have been found to be statistically comparable to those from drum seeding, another mechanized method.

Lower than Transplanting (in some cases, but more economical overall): While traditional transplanting methods may sometimes produce slightly higher overall grain yields due to better initial growth parameters, drone seeding is often more economically superior due to its significantly lower establishment costs and higher net returns. 

In essence, drone direct seeding provides a cost-effective, efficient, and modern solution for hybrid rice cultivation that can match or exceed the yields of traditional direct seeding methods.