Development of a Manually Operated Checkrow Seeder for Rice Production Systems

Abstract

The study focused on the development of a manually operated checkrow seeder for rice production systems. The machine was designed and fabricated in Alaminos City, Pangasinan. It was tested using the NSIC Rc 160 variety. Laboratory testing was done where the optimized and calibrated settings were determined. Using Design expert ® 11 for optimization, it was discovered that at a metering device hole diameter of 6 mm and 60% hopper capacity, the checkrow seeder can drop an average of 3.45 seeds per hill or 3 to 4 seeds per hill with only 3.14% damaged seeds, and 13.33 % missed hills. The results were verified through confirmation runs indicating that the generated predictive equations are reliable for the machine tests. The seeder was tested by male and female operators under actual field conditions. With the male operator, the seeder had an average of 3.23 seeds per drop, 14.06 mm seeding depth, 20% skipped rows with field efficiency of 93.13 %. With the female operator, the seeder had an average of 3.28 seeds per drop, 10 mm seeding depth, 16.67 % skipped hills with 56.25% field efficiency. In conclusion, the development of a manually operated checkrow seeder for rice production systems is possible in Alaminos City, Pangasinan. The machine can improve the method of rice establishment in the area.

Citation:

RANCHES, M. A., AMONGO, R. M., GALLEGOS, R. K., QUILLOY, E., & SANCHEZ, P. A. (2022). Development of a Manually Operated Checkrow Seeder for Rice Production Systems. Philippine Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, 18(2), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.48196/018.02.2022.02