Assessment of Wheat Crops Using Mechanical and Coventional Practices

Abstract

The mechanization of wheat farming in Nepal today has increased, making it an important component of the agricultural industry. Since the majority of farmers in Nepal still use conventional farming techniques, mechanization in wheat production is still in its infancy. But in recent years, the Nepal government has pushed for the adoption of cutting-edge agricultural technologies, such as farm mechanization, to boost the yield of wheat and other crops. The formation of the Directorate of Agricultural Research (DoAR), Tarahara under Nepal Agricultural Research Council played a significant role in pushing up the rising trend of productivity. The main objective of this research is to examine the impact of farm mechanization on wheat productivity (mainly Super Seeder, Rotavators or Farmer’s Practice and Zero-Till Seed cum Fertilizer Drill). Compared to modern farming methods, traditional farming practices are less productive, which reduces yields and revenue. Additionally, it might not have sufficient methods for managing pests and diseases, which would lead to crop losses and lower yields. It takes a lot of manual labor, which may be physically taxing and time-consuming, and are frequently labor-intensive. In order to address these issues, in this study we undertook three plots where we employed a super seeder, rotavator and zero-till seed cum fertilizer drill for wheat seed establishment in the DoAR field. Experiments were carried out in ten sample with three treatments in 5680 m2 plot area. BL4341 variety of wheat seed was used to sow at the seed rate of 120 kg/ha. DAP, Urea and Potash fertilizer were used N:P:K @ 100:60:40 kg /ha and pre herbicides such as Glyphosate and post pendimethaline, 2-4-D were used. The highest yield of 3426.9 kg/ha was obtained in treatment (T1) where super seeder was used for wheat cultivation followed by farmer’s practice of 3061.8 kg/ha. The lowest yield of 2484.4 kg/ha was obtained where zero-till seed cum fertilizer drill was used for wheat cultivation. The yield using super seeder was 11.14% higher than the farmer's practice and cost of production was 2.78% lower than FP. The highest benefit-cost ratio was found in using super seeder of 2.44 and that of zero-till seed cum fertilizer drill and farmers practice was 1.39 and 0.2. Thus, the application of these modern mechanized agricultural machinery is found better and profitable in the study area