The Benefits of Farm Mechanization

At the FutureRice farm, we tried to mechanize most aspect of rice production in order to demonstrate to farmers the benefits of modern technology– in terms of savings in time, labor, and costs.

We made a simple comparison of a mechanized rice farm and farmers’ current practice. While both systems already use small hand tractors for land preparation, the addition of mechanical rice transplanter and rice combine harvester provided greater savings and efficiency.

FutureRice	# of days	# of persons	Costs (PhP)	Farmer’s Practice	# of days	# of persons	Costs (PhP)
Seedling preparation	2 days seed soaking; 1 day for seed tray;	6-7 to prepare seed trays		Seedbed prep; Seed sowing Pulling and Transport	1 day 1 day 1 day	1 1 2-3
Seedling age	14 days				21-25 days
Transplanting	1 day Mechanical transplanter	2 persons per ha in 2 hrs	6,000	Manual transplanting	1 day Manual labor	30 persons per ha in 4 hours	4,500
Harvesting	1 day Combine harvester	1 operator 2 assistants	12,365	Manual harvesting, Hauling, transport	1 day/ha	15 per ha	16,167
				Manual Threshing	1 day/ha	4 per ha
Total			18,365				21,167

Comparison of mechanized rice farming and farmers’ practice with the addition of rice transplanter and combine harvester in rice production, DS 2014 at the FutureRice farm in Munoz, Nueva Ecija.

FutureRice farm is using the mechanical rice transplater to cut labor cost, save time and create uniform rows of transplanted rice seedlings

With full mechanization (handtractors, mechanical transplanter, combine harvester), farmers can save more than P3,000 per hectare. There is also considerable savings on time, with the use of 14 day old seedlings.  Transplanting can be done in just 2 hours per hectare; while the rice combine harvester can harvest, thresh and bag semi-dry palay in just one sweep, taking just 2 hours per hectare.

During harvest time at FutureRice farm, combine harvester is used for efficient harvesting, with a significant decrease in harvest losses

On the other hand, a farmer that is not fully mechanized can also finish the major operations in one day, however, he will need more people to complete the job. For instance, he will need 30 persons per hectare to finish the job in 4 hours. In harvesting, he will need from 4 to 15 people to complete the cutting, hauling, transport and threshing of his harvest.  In times of limited manpower, these operations can be significantly delayed.

Hence, aside from the actual savings in direct costs, mechanization provides important labor and time savings to the farmer.   

Writers: Roger F. Barroga and Marian Anora

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