By integrating the advantages while overcoming the limitations of both sowing and planting methods, cluster seeders are well accepted by farmers in the Mekong Delta.
The operation of the seeding system on the planter at the Mekong Delta Rice Institute in the winter-spring harvest of 2022-2023.
Reduce sowing density
The breakthrough solution proposed by agribusiness and many municipalities to reduce production costs is to reduce seeding density (reduce seed rate/ha). Reducing the seed rate reduces the amount of fertilizers and pesticides used, reducing production costs and increasing farmers’ income.
Accordingly, the policy of reducing the amount of seed has been started for many years and, as usual, a program to reduce the amount of seed sown is started every year through preliminary and final conferences of production, the agricultural sector and the communities.
Accompanying the policy of reducing the sowing rate, mechanization of rice production will be promoted, paying special attention to the machinery and equipment used to mechanize sowing, as this is currently the weakest stage in the continuous stages of rice production mechanization of rice production. More importantly, mechanization of seeding can help reduce seed rate. In the above correlation, in the past, the planting machine was regarded as a device that can accompany the policy of reducing the sowing rate. The promotion of sowing mechanization by planters has contributed to the implementation of the sowing rate reduction policy.
However, the policy is that the implant has not been accepted as an effective solution to serve the body along with many other active support solutions, but until now, after a long period of introduction to the market. The modernization of the seeding phase is caused by reasons such as to high compared to current sowing practice; the farmland is swampy in many places and does not guarantee the stability of the planting machine in operation.
Many places in the Mekong Delta still use a large amount of seed with the traditional form of sowing today.
And as a result, the seed rate in production is still too high compared to the recommendations of the agribusiness. According to statistics from the Ministry of Crop Production, at the time of the 2022 autumn-winter season, the seed rate below 100kg/ha accounts for only 15%, the seed rate of 100-150kg/ha accounts for 70%, and the seed rate over 150kg/ha accounts for still 15% off. In fact, the sowing density is much higher and far from the value of 80-100 kg/ha recommended by the agricultural sector.
In this state, after a period of searching, researching and exploring, the cluster rice seeder with the function of a transplanter and the results of rice production based on the model was recently imported from Korea. This model is in no way inferior to the transplanted rice model , if not superior in terms of economy.
Integration of advantages and disadvantages of planting and seeding machines
Cluster rice seeder (referred to as cluster seeder / cluster seeder) can also be called site seeder or transplanter with…seeds! The reason for the name is the site seeder, because the seed is placed by the machine in a targeted manner in clusters, in clusters in the field, with a spacing that suits the grower’s requirements.
Paddy seeding unit in clusters connected to the plow.
The reason why it is called a transplanter with…seed is because the sowing process of the machine is completely like a transplanter, only the transplanter is planted with seedlings and the cluster seeder is planted with…seed! (soaked to germinate). Special:
– The transplanter works in rows, in clusters with seedling plants, and when transplanting, it can choose the spacing of transplanting in rows, the spacing of transplanting in clusters, and the number of shrimp in each cluster.
– The cluster seeder also works in parallel rows, in clusters, but with seeds (soaked and germinated) and can also choose spaced seeding in rows, spaced seeding in clusters and number of seeds per cluster when sowing.
In addition to the advantages of the machine-implanted rice model (reducing the amount of seed, reducing production costs, increasing yield, increasing rice quality, etc.), cluster seeders also overcome the limitations of planters in terms of the ability to use seeds when sowing without Going through a complicated sowing process costs more, reducing the production cost from VND 3.0 to 3.5 million/ha.
27-day-old rice fields at the Mekong Delta Rice Institute.
On the other hand, the cluster seeder also has a higher labor productivity (6 – 8 ha/day) than the transplanter, which only achieves 3 – 4 ha/day, which helps to speed up the seasonal schedule of concentrated sowing and avoid cicada what is a prerequisite for rice production in the Mekong Delta.
Not only the paddy field has many advantages over the planting machine, but the paddy field applying cluster seeding in production has also proved many advantages compared to the sowing paddy field, such as: reduce the amount of inorganic fertilizers (15 – 20%); reduce the number of pesticide sprays (30-40%); Yield is higher than 0.5 – 0.8 tons/ha (8 – 10%); Improving rice quality with better, lighter, cleaner grains…; achieve higher profitability (20 – 30%); Limit rice falling in wind, heavy rain…
Especially, the cluster seeder only needs to invest in the working part (cluster seeder unit) and connect to the big plow, small rotary tiller, planter, etc., which are commonly used machines in the region. . Therefore, farmers can use these “grafting machines” for both plowing or transplanting and sowing as needed, which both reduces investment costs and increases the uptime of the crop.
Clustered paddy fields in Tan An (Tan Chau Town, An Giang).
Through the actual production from the summer-autumn harvest of 2019 to the present of many programs and projects in most of the Mekong Delta provinces, the cluster rice seeder shows that the basic requirements to order serves the Mechanization of rice production in the Mekong Delta has high productivity, simple operating techniques and, above all, brings high profitability to rice farmers. It can be said that the cluster rice threshing machine is a double technical advancement, which improves both labor productivity and the productivity, quality and economy of rice production, and moreover, the cluster rice threshing machine is the “revolution” in the reduction of Rice Varieties in the Mekong Delta.
The operation of plow-mounted seeding system in Dao Huu Canh – Chau Phu – An Giang commune in 2022-2023 winter-spring harvest.
With practical results that have been used in the fields of the Mekong Delta for many years, on April 25, 2022, the Department of Crop Production introduced the cluster seeding model into the technical process of rice cultivation in order to reduce the costs and the Improve efficiency in rice cultivation. Mekong Delta Region in Decision No. 73/QD-TT-VPPN.
Currently, farmers in the Mekong Delta are accepting cluster seeders as an effective sowing mechanization solution for rice production in the region. It is believed that in the near future, along with the impact of government policies, the area of sown rice in clusters will be rapidly replicated.
