Assessment of Technical and Financial Feasibility of Self Propelled Paddy Transplanter

Assessment of technical and financial feasibility of self propelled paddy transplanter was carried out at the farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Rohtas, during Kharif 2016 and 2017 seasons with a view to reduce the drudgery and cost of cultivation in rice transplanting. An eight row self-propelled paddy transplanter (Model 2ZT-238-8) was used for the purpose. The performance of the paddy transplanter was found satisfactory. The field capacity, field efficiency and fuel consumption of the transplanter were 0.1876 ha/hr, 93.73 per cent and 1.06 l/hr, respectively. Cost of mechanical transplanting was calculated to be only Rs 808/-ha as compared to Rs 3450/-ha in case of manual transplanting provided the machine is used for their maximum usage of 90 ha in a year. To breakeven with the cost of manual operation, the mechanical transplanter should be used at least in an area of 14.69 ha/year. Having very small payback period (1.08 year) and high capacity to withstand the interest rate (27.98%) the machine was found to be most suitable for rural entrepreneurs interested in agriculture in Rohtas district.