30 manually-operated 6-row paddy transplanters, which use mat-type rice seedlings, were fabricated at the Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, India. The machines were evaluated in farm fields of area 30 ha, and 6 ha were transplanted at the research farms of the University in 1994. Trials were conducted at 19 different locations in 2 districts of Punjab. Two people could easily transplant _0.4 ha per day, including uprooting and transporting from the nursery. Hill and tiller population as wellas grain yield were higher than for manually transplanted fields at almost all locations. The number of hills transplanted by the machine varied from 25.2 to 28.8/m2. The average hill mortality after 15 days of transplanting was 12.1. The average grainyield was _250 kg/ha higher than the manually-transplanted fields. Transplanting by machine saved _45 cost and 60 labour as compared to manual transplanting. Consequently, it was decided to introduce about 200 machines into Indian Punjab during the 1995 paddy transplanting season by providing a 50 subsidy in the cost from the State Government.
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