Degree of Mechanization in Paddy Cultivation: A Review of Available Data From 2018-2022
Meghna Upreti, Kharka Bdr Subba, Sangay Lhendup
https://doi.org/10.55925/btagr.24.7103
Mechanization plays a crucial role in paddy cultivation, however mechanization in Bhutan has rarely been studied. This study aimed to determine the degree of mechanization for different paddy production operations in Bhutan. The degree of mechanization was computed based on the available secondary data. It serves as a quantitative indicator for assessing the extent of mechanization of agriculture operation. The findings showed that the degree of mechanization in paddy production was highest for threshing (69%) followed by land preparation at 67% and milling at 63%. Other operations like weeding, transplanting and reaping were still done predominantly using manual power which is very laborious and cost intensive. The weeding operation exhibited the lowest mechanization at 0.05%, followed by transplanting at 6% and reaping at 19%. There is need to intensively promote mechanization in rice farming.
Keywords: Mechanization degree; Paddy cultivation; Agriculture operations