ABE 30A – Basic Farm Machinery and Mechanization Laboratory Report

Name: __Reah Lyn B. Galili__________________ Date Given: March 15,

2024

Lecture Instructor: Michelle Baltazar Date Due: April 30, 2024

Laboratory Exercise 4

CALIBRATION OF MANUALLY-OPERATED RICE DRUM SEEDER

I. Introduction
Crop establishment is an essential aspect of rice production that involves various
activities such as soil preparation, seed selection and seedling management. This phase
plays a significant role in laying the groundwork for the entire growth and productivity of
the rice crop. One of the agricultural machineries used for crop establishment is a rice-
drum seeder.
The rice drum seeder is a mechanical device designed for planting rice seeds in the
fields. It operates by using a rotating drum to distribute rice seeds uniformly over the soil
surface. The effective of the rice drum seeder should be evaluated based on several
factors, including the accuracy of seeding, placement and distribution of the seeds, and
the emergence of seedlings. It is important that the machine plant seeds at a consistent
depth and spacing, with minimal damage or loss, and that the seedlings emerge uniformly
with high survival rate.
In this laboratory exercise, with the guidelines provided by PAES 143:2005 and PAES
144:2005, the students will gain first-hand experience on the methods of test and
inspection for manually-operated rice drum seeder for wet field.

II. Objectives

At the end of the exercise the student must be able to:

1. Calibrate the manually-operated rice drum seeder;
2. Calculate the seeding rate per hectare; and
3. Draw the calibration curve.

III. Materials
Rice-drum seeder, Rice seeds, Measuring tape, Digital scale, Masking tape,
Marker, Grain Collecting Pan

IV. Methods

A. Calibration of the drum seeder

1. Measure the row spacing and the diameter of the ground wheel.
2. Mark one side of the ground wheel to determine each successive revolution.
3. Place the collecting pans at the bottom of each drum
4. Fill the rice drum seeder with known quantity of seeds (e.g. 500 grams) and set
the seeder to the lowest seeding rate setting.
5. Rotate the ground wheel continuously until it reaches 10 revolutions, allowing the
grains to drop into the collecting pans.
6. Using a digital scale, weigh the discharged seeds on each of the collecting pans.
Record the data on table 2.
7. Replicate three times.
8. Compute the seeding rate per hectare using the equation 1.
9. Repeat steps 4- 8 with the seeder set to progressively higher setting (medium &
high).

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ABE 30A – Basic Farm Machinery and Mechanization Laboratory Report

10. Draw the calibration curve (Figure 1) by plotting the results on a graph, with the
adjustment setting on the x-axis and seeding rate on the y-axis.

V. Results and/or Discussion

Table 1. Machine Specification

Name of Machine: Rice drum seeder

Brand: INCA Model: INCA-JHT

Dimensions

Overall Length: 2.25 m No. of Planting Rows: 5

Overall Width: 0.69 m Row Distance: 0.18 m

DRUM SEEDER

No. of Drums: 5 Size of Opening (LxW, mm): 10 mm x 10

mm

Size of Drum ( LxW, mm): 250 mm x 180

Mm

GROUND WHEEL

Diameter: 0.69 m Number of pieces: 2

Table 2. Data obtained from the Calibration Test of the Seeder

LOW ROW (grams/10 revolutions)

trial 1 2 3 4 5

1 42.70 42.35 42.64 40.06 43.67

2 9.49 8.28 8.18 12.04 9.17

average 26.095 25.315 25.41 26.05 26.42

MEDIUM ROW (grams/10 revolutions)

trial 1 2 3 4 5

1 35.82 31.35 34.02 34.91 28.64

2 40.32 32.17 35.28 37.90 34.99

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ABE 30A – Basic Farm Machinery and Mechanization Laboratory Report

average 38.07 31.76 34.65 36.405 31.815

HIGH ROW (grams/10 revolutions)

trial 1 2 3 4 5

1 18.47 21.05 27.75 26.50 27.54

2 27.77 20.12 22.30 27.01 21.10

average 23.12 20.585 25.025 26.755 24.32

ROW (grams/10 Seeding rate

TOTAL ha
revolutions) (kg/ha)
REPLICATION 1 2 3 4 5 grams kg

0.0019
26. 25.3 25. 26.0 26. 0.12 66.305 kg/ha
LOW 129.29 4994
095 15 41 5 42 929
ha

0.0019
38. 31.7 34. 36.4 31. 0.17 88.57 kg/ha
MEDIUM 172.7 4994
07 6 65 05 815 27
ha

0.0019
23. 20.5 25. 26.7 24. 119.80 0.11 61.44 kg/ha
HIGH 4994
12 85 025 55 32 5 9805
ha

⮚ Calculation of Seeding Rate

Total weight of seeds discharged , kg

X=
Area, ha

LOW:

0.12929 kg
X=
0.00194994 ha

x= 66.305 kg/ha

MEDIUM:
0.1727 kg
X=
0.00194994 ha

X= 88.57 kg/ha

HIGH:

0.119805 kg
X=
0.00194994 ha

X= 61.44 kg/ha

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( eq. 1)

Calculation of Area:
Area = W x S 10

=0.9m x 3.14 x 0.69m x 10

= 19.4994m² or 0.0019499 ha

Where:
W = width of the seeder
S10=πxDxN
D = ground wheel (GW) diameter
N = no. of GW revolutions

Discussion Questions:

1. How does the process of manually rice drum seeding compare to other traditional
methods of rice planting?

When compared to other traditional techniques for planting rice, this method has a number of
benefits.
In terms of: Efficiency, by using a drum seeding technique, farmers may quickly cover huge
amounts of land compared to manually broadcasting, which involves spreading seeds by
hand.

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ABE 30A – Basic Farm Machinery and Mechanization Laboratory Report

Labor saving, although human effort is still needed for drum seeding, it is less taxing on the
body than other techniques like transplanting, which involves planting rice seedlings one by
one on the field. Compared to transplanting, drum seeding is easier to mechanize, which
further lowers labor costs.

Cost effective, Because the seeds are dispersed evenly while drum seeding than with
broadcasting, drum seeding usually needs less seed. Farmers may enjoy cost savings as a
result, as less seed is needed to sow the same amount of land.

Drum planting does, however, come with several disadvantages and difficulties. For example,
because it depends on physical effort for germination, it might not be appropriate for fields
with high weed pressure or uneven terrain. In addition, compared to broadcasting, drum
seeding could require more expertise and training since ideal seed distribution depends on
the drum's calibration. While drum seeding has several benefits overall, its applicability
depends on the requirements and situations of the farmers that use it.

2. What do you think are the disadvantages of using a manually rice drum seeder?
Although physically planting rice drums has many benefits, there are disadvantages as
well, like: labor intensive, skill requirements, limited adoptability, risk of seed loss,
mechanization challenges, and weed control.

3. What are some of the factors that can impact the efficiency of using a rice drum
seeder, and how do these factors influence the overall effectiveness of the seeding
process?
There are several factors that may affect the efficiency of using a rice drum seeder.
This can be the environment, the operator, or the items involve in the operation. These
are some of the factors: The speed of the drum seeder, Due to the fact that the
dispersion rate of the drum seeder depends on the rotational speed of the drums,
inconsistent rotational speed will affect the drum seeder and dispersion rate, which will
lead to an uneven plant stand because of the relationship between density and
discharge rate.
The field’s condition, given that the ground wheel of the rice drum seeder is narrow.
Furthermore, if the field has soft, deep mud, there is a high likelihood that the
equipment will get stuck. This will affect how the equipment is used, increase drag
resistance, which leads to an inconsistent travel speed, which in turn affects how
quickly the drum seeder discharges rice seeds.
.

VI. Conclusion

In summary, farmers must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of manually rice drum
seeding before selecting the best planting technique for their particular farming methods and
regional circumstances.

The drum seeder is an efficient and useful equipment in rice production, it is simple and
easy to use, and has many features like rendering selection, Low, Medium and High settings
for different application densities related to hybrid rice or purebred rice. Remarkable drum
seeding machine Reduced total seed yield per hectare compared to traditional direct
tillage broadcast seeding app, the use of an empty seeder saves overall value. The drum
seeder is a no-till application vehicle that almost reaches uniformity that of transplanted rice
but no uniformity in columns, but only more in its line spacing. Its wide construction measures

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ABE 30A – Basic Farm Machinery and Mechanization Laboratory Report

allows for a larger area to be occupied area to help speed up cultivation. Even though the
drum seeder is simplified, Skills are also required for the operator because there is specific
operations must be done using drum sower such as walking speed, correct selection of the
settings on the holes and seeds required for use in seeding drum. Through this type of device
and involving users mainly for farmers, the equipment saves time and labor costs.

VII. Citation
PAES 103: 2005. Agricultural Machinery – Rice Drum Seeder – Specifications
PAES 104: 2005. Agricultural Machinery – Rice Drum Seeder – Methods of Test

VIII. Appendices

- Attach at least two pictures of yourself doing the exercise (a picture with proper caption)

This picture was taken before we start the activity, I was assigned to record the measurement,
brand, and model of the drum seeder.

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