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Harish Damodaran

Ludhiana , April 27

FOR the Punjab farmer, mechanisation is not simply about tractors, tubewells, threshers and harvester combines. Rather, it is a mantra in his unending quest for reducing costs of cultivation and saving time and labour.

The latest addition to these efforts is the `Combo Happy Seeder' developed by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), which is expected to revolutionise paddy-wheat farming in the State the way that combines have done in the recent past. The new machine basically allows farmers to directly sow wheat after combine-harvesting of paddy without the need for clearing the left-over stubble or further field preparation.

"You can harvest the paddy in the morning and plant wheat the same evening," claimed Dr S.S. Ahuja, Head, Department of Farm Power & Machinery, PAU.

In the normal practice, once the paddy is harvested, there is a long period of field preparation for the ensuing crop.

"Depending on the soil texture, the farmer has to undertake two discings, two tillages and four planking, all of which take about 10 days. After this he has to irrigate the field once and leave it for another 10 days for the seed bed to have optimum moisture," he said.

The problem is compounded by the use of harvester combines, which operate 30-40 cm above the ground and leave behind long stalks that have to be separately salvaged or simply burnt, as is the case now.

"Zero-tillage seed drill machines are available now that can sow wheat after harvesting of paddy with little or no field preparation. But these work only if the paddy has been manually harvested and there is no left-over straw, which is not so in combine-harvesting," Dr Ahuja added.

The Combo Happy Seeder, on the other hand, is capable of direct seed drilling in combine-harvested fields.

"In the original Happy Seeder, we had a separate straw management unit to cut, life and throw the standing stubble and loose straw and another one for sowing. In the new Combo version, we have combined the two units into a single machine that can be operated by a 40 HP tractor," said Dr Harminder Singh Sidhu, Research Engineer at the Department.

According to him, the new machine, which would cost about Rs 50,000, has several advantages in addition to reducing field preparation time and accompanying costs.

"If the wheat is planted the same day, you just need to use the residual moisture left behind by the harvested paddy. Through this, one irrigation is straightaway saved," Dr Sidhu said.

Moreover, the 20-day-odd additional `window' created through time saved in field preparation would help the farmer go in for early sowing of wheat.

"Farmers are now keen to sow wheat by end-October because of the recent tendency for temperatures to rise suddenly in March, which causes early maturity of the crop and reduces yields. The Combo Seeder will help them plant wheat early or, for that matter, grow longer-duration scented paddy varieties," he added.

The new machine has already been tried out in fields during the 2004 rabi planting season. "The results with regard to germination, crop stand and yields have been very good," said the PAU scientists.

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