The Agriculture Department in the district is looking forward to broad-basing awareness about the utility of drum seeders in the district, a week after demonstrating its utility at a field in Anandamangalam in the district during the visit of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
According to a senior official, there is encouraging patronage for drum seeders in the district, though farmers say they are able to get it only through private sellers.
Costing around ₹ 5,000, the drum seeder is ideal for use on levelled fields.
Farmers tend to go about the conventional method of cultivating the crop due to the difficulties involved in levelling the field. However, those who have derived the utility of the machine get to see the larger picture, the official said.
According to Sakthi Vadivelu, a farmer in Mayiladuthurai district, the drum seeder has been customised to the requirements of farmers by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The line sowing of sprouted paddy seeds in puddled field had worked well for him in the last sowing season. The provision made in the drums by the TNAU for sowing seeds with one feet gap has been effective. Manpower requirement is minimal when the machine is used.
The improved TNAU drum seeder is operated at a a walking speed of 1-1.5 km/hr in the puddled field. Close to one square kilometre of paddy field could be covered in an hour. The drum seeder has also been found to result in saving of water up to 35% because of early maturity of the crop, according to the senior official.
There is, of course, the relative advantage of much lesser weeds when paddy saplings are transplanted. "Use of drum seeders is indeed economical, but the problem of weed growth has to be addressed. Use of chemicals for de-weeding becomes inevitable," Mr. Sakthi Vadivelu said.
Yet, at final analysis, the equipment is beneficial since seed saving is achieved. Moreover, the harvest could be advanced by 10 to 15 days, he said.
There are indications of farmers optimising utility of the drum seeder through renting it out to their counterparts desiring to give it a try.
At the block level, farmers utilising drum seeders are identified and provided with incentives, according to officials. About half the cost of the drum seeder is credited into the bank accounts of the farmers.
