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  • ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development and testing of a manually operated paddy dibbler
    (Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 1992) Bini Sam; KAU; Sankaranarayanan, M R
    A manually operated three row paddy dibbler for dry sowing was developed and tested at Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur. The metering mechanism employed in this dibbler was unique in design. The machine consists of seed box, roller with metering mechanism, seed tube with furrow opener, frame, handles and marker. When the dibbler was operated for dibbling, the roller passing vertically through the centre of box would move upward by the soil pressure against the spring pressure. As the roller moved upward, the portion of the roller having the vertical slot would come in contact with seeds and the seeds were moved and carried to this slot. When the equipment was taken out from the soil, the soil pressure on the roller was released and due to the spring pressure the roller moved downward and the seeds carried in the slot were released and would fall through the seed tube by gravity in to the soil. During the operation of the equipment due to the downward travel of the roller and seed tube the seed hole was created for dropping the seeds. The covering of seeds with soil was carried out automatically when the equipment was taken out from the soil. The number of seeds dropped was in the range of 4 to 6 per hill. The area covered by the dibbler was 0.022 hectare per hour. The field efficiency obtained was 68.68 per cent. The mechanical damage was 4.84 per cent. The percentage losses of seeds after germination was 9.52. The fabrication cost of the dibbler including cost of material was Rs. 800/-. The operating cost of the dibbler was Rs. 16/- per hour. The cost of sowing one hectare of land was Rs. 717/- while for manual dibbling the cost of sowing was Rs. 979/- per hectare. Moreover manual dibbling is done in a bending position which is arduous to the farmer. But in the present design of dibbler, a suitable handle is provided which ensure easy and comfortable operation in a straight posture. The equipment can be fabricated locally with readily available materials and can be easily maintained by small farmers.