Presented by: Rajendra Uprety, Senior Agriculture Development Officer Department of Agriculture Nepal Presented at: Panel on Climate Change and Rice Agriculture 3rd International Rice Congress, Hanoi, Vietnam Presented on: 9 November 2010

1. Meshing mechanization with SRI
methods for rice cultivation in Nepal
Presented in
3rd International Rice Congress 2010
8-12 November 2010, Hanoi, Vietnam
Rajendra Uprety
Senior Agriculture Development Officer
Department of Agriculture
Nepal

3. Rice Cultivation in Nepal

4. Problems of rice cultivation in Nepal
Low yields
High production costs
Labor shortages
Water shortages for irrigation
Manual/bullock-based cultivation
To solve some of the above mentioned problems,
the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been
introduced to raise factor productivity and reduce
water requirements. But even though SRI raises
labor productivity, its labor requirements often limit
its adoption.

6. Mechanization of rice farming
 Mechanization is being introduced in Morang
district of eastern Nepal in conjunction with
SRI practices.
 In the first year, 27 farmers participated with
24 ha area under mechanized rice farming
 Machines were used for land preparation,
transplanting, and harvesting work.
 Machines were provided by Buddha Air, but
all cost has calculated, and a fixed rent for
these machines was paid by farmer users

7. Average cost distribution of
rice farming in 2009
Seed cost
5%
Nursery
preparation
9%
Land
preparation
18%
Transplanting
13%Weed
management
11%
Fertilizer
15%
Harvesting+thre
shing
29%
Average cost distribution of Mechanize rice farming

8. Average cost for different activities of
rice farming, 2009
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Cost(US$/ha)
Work of rice farming
Cost comparision of conventional and
mechanized rice farming
Mechanize
Conventional

9. Average cost differences of conventional
and mechanized rice cultivation
Work Conventional Mechanical Difference (%)
Seed 17.7 12 32.2
Nursery 17 20 -17.6
Land Prep. 80.7 40.3 50.1
Transplanting 46.4 32.3 30.4
Fertilizers 31.9 31.9 00
Weeding 29.7 22.2 25.3
Harvesting 90.4 62.8 30.5
Total 313 226 27.8

10. Yield distribution of conventional and
mechanized rice farming
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
<3.0 3.0-4.0 4.0-5.0 5.0-6.0 >6.0
Numbersoffarmers
Yield (t/ha)
Yield distribution of different rice farmers
Mechanized rice farming
Conventional rice farming
Conventional- 4.2 t/ha
Mechanical- 4.8 t/ha

11. Yield and production costs of rice farming
by different weed management practices
3168N =
Type of weeding
no-weedingManualMechanical
Productioncostbymechanizemethod(US$/ha)
400
300
200
100
15
3168N =
Type of weeding
no-weedingManualMechanical
Cropyieldwithmechanization(t/ha)
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Ave. 5.83 4.48 Ave. 224 235 188
US$/hat / ha

12. Cost and profit situation
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Production cost (US$/ha) Profit (US$/ha)
US$/ha
Cost and Profit
Cost and profit of rice farming in Morang,
Nepal, 2009 Conventional
Mechanical
-27 % +35.7%

13. Labor required for conventional and
mechanical rice farming in Morang, 2009
Work Conv. Mech. Saving
Nursery Preparation 8 10 +2
Land Preparation 24 10 14
Transplanting 35 7 28
Weeding 24 16 8
Fertilization 2 2 0
Irrigation 2 2 0
Harvesting + Threshing 44 10 34
Total 137 55 82

14. Conclusions
Mechanization of rice farming can reduced
labor requirements and production costs,
and it will be a good solution for Nepalese
rice farmers who are faced with labor
shortages and high costs of production
Mechanization can reduce the costs of land
preparation, transplanting, and harvesting.
Farmers can cut down on their labor costs
for weeding if and when they have access to
appropriate weeders at an affordable cost.

15. Conclusions (continued)
Those farmers who are familiar with SRI
methods were able to scale-up their SRI
practice with some modification.
The results show that a combination of
mechanization and SRI can increase
production and further enhance farmer
income by reducing production cost.
Besides this, Nepalese farmers who can save
valuable time by mechanization then can take
on other additional work for bettering their
livelihoods.