mechanised agronomic practices in rubber plantations …clinic.rubberboard.org.in/pdf/ircpdf/fm-02...

02-11-2012

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MECHANISED AGRONOMIC PRACTICES IN

RUBBER PLANTATIONS – INDIAN SCENARIO

Phebe Joseph and Jessy, M.D

Agronomy / Soils Division, Rubber Research Institute of India, Rubber Board

(Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India), Kottayam -686009, India

Back ground …..

Acute labour shortage and spiralling labour wages are crippling

rubber plantation industry

Land preparation and weed control are the most labour

intensive and expensive agronomic operations

There is a large scale shift to mechanized land preparation &

weed control

Land preparation - earth movers (JCB/Hitachi), or tractor

mounded hole diggers

Weed control- brush cutters/weed cutters

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Objectives:

To investigate the impact of mechanized

land preparation on soil erosion and

degradation of rubber growing soils

To evaluate the economics

Experiment 1 – Land preparation

Treatments

T1- Manual pitting and terracing ( control)

T2- Manual terracing & pitting by tractor mounded hole digger T1.wmv

T3- Pitting & terracing by Hitachi T2.wmv

T4- Pitting , terracing & tilling (inter rows) by Hitachi T3.wmv

Methodology

Design- RBD Replications- 4

Plot size: 75 plants with a gross plot size of 1709 m2

Year of commencement: 2010

Location: Mundakayam Estate, Mundakayam

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Observations

Soil organic carbon content (Inter row area) – Walkley and

Black’s method

Core sampling method- soil depths 0-15, 15-30, 30-45

and 45-60 cm

Soil erosion ( trench method)- long trenches were

constructed at the lower end of each plot across the

full width of the plot

Economics

Manual pitting and terracing ( control)

Manual terracing & pitting by tractor mounded hole digger

Pitting & terracing by Hitachi

Pitting , terracing & tilling by Hitachi

Significantly lower OC in (0-15cm) plots where pitting, terracing & tilling done by Hitachi

Results.. Effect of land preparation methods on OC content (%) of soil

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Results.. Effect of land preparation methods on soil erosion (2012)




T1-

T2-

T3-

T4-Pitting , terracing & tilling by Hitachi

• Soil erosion in tilled plot was 28% more than the no tilled plots

(Rs./ha)

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Complete tilling of rubber inter rows reduced the soil organic

carbon content

Soil erosion increased by 28 per cent when entire area was tilled

50 per cent of cost of land preparation reduced by pitting and

terracing by Hitachi

Considering the erosion, soil properties and economics,

pitting & terracing by Hitachi is the best method

Conclusion

Experiment 2

Weed control by weed / brush cutters

Weed control - slashing by sickle (manual), herbicides & weed cutters

Manual weeding is labour intensive and expensive

Wide-spread apprehension about the environmental impacts of

herbicides

Objectives

To assess the rate of regeneration / regrowth of weed flora

in different weed control methods

Economics

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11

Treatments

T1- Manual weeding (slashing of weeds with sickle)

T2- Chemical weeding (glyphosate 2L/ha)

T3- Mechanical weeding ( Weed cutters)

Plot size - 1785 m2. Stat analysis - ‘t’ test

Observations

• Regeneration of weed flora

• Cost analysis

Methodology

Results….

Regeneration of weed flora

• Manual weeding RMA2.avi – 100 % regeneration-

2.5 month after treatment imposition

• Mechanical weeding RMC2.avi - 100%- 3 months

• Chemical weeding RC2.avi Regeneration starts 2

months after treatment imposition

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75 % of weeding cost was reduced by mechanical method compared to

manual

Conclusion

• The rate of regeneration / regrowth of weeds was lowest in

herbicide applied plot

• 75 per cent weeding cost was reduced by mechanical method

• Considering the environmental impacts, scarcity of labourers

and economics, mechanical weed control by weed cutters is the

most suitable method

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• Mechanisation reduces labour engagement and

cost of cultivation considerably

• Indiscriminate use of machineries has adverse

impact on soil quality

• Machineries should be used judiciously in rubber

plantations for the long term sustainability

of rubber soils

Mechanisation in rubber plantations…..

Thank You

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Tilling, pitting & terracing by Hitachi



Table 1. Effect of land preparation methods on bulk density(g cm-3)of soil

1.12

1.14

1.16

1.18

1.2

1.22

1.24

1.26

1.28

1.3

1.32

0‐15 15‐30 30‐45 45‐60

Bulk den

sity (g cm

‐3)

Soil depth (cm)

2010

a

aaa

aa a a

aa a

aaa

a a


Significantly lower BD in plots where Tilling, pitting & terracing done by Hitachi

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0-15 15-30 30-45 45-60

T1

T2

T3

T4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Po

rosi

ty (

%)

0-15 15-30 30-45 45-60

Soil depth (cm)

Effect of land preparation methods on porosity of soil

T1

T2

T3

T4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0-15 15-30 30-45 45-60

T1

T2

T3

T4

Manual pitting and terracing (control)




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Significantly lower OC in plots where Tilling, pitting & terracing done by Hitachi

Table3. Effect of land preparation methods on OC content of soil

Table3. Effect of land preparation methods on OC content of soil

Significantly lower OC in plots where Tilling, pitting & terracing done by Hitachi

Manual pitting and terracing (control)

Manual terracing & pitting by tractor

mounded hole digger



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Table 5 . Cost analysis of different land preparation methods ( ha-1)

Treatments Operations / cost (Rs.) Cost per ha(Rs.) Total cost(450 plants ha-1) ( Rs. ha-1)

Taking pits - Rs.42 / pit 18,900Manual pitting and

terracing ( control) Refilling pits - Rs.21 / pit 9450 37,350terracing - Rs.20/ plant 9000

Manual terracing & pitting by tractor

Taking pits - Rs.15 / pit Refilling pits - Rs.21 / pit

67509450 25,200

mounded hole digger terracing - Rs.20/ plant 9000


Pitting, filling & terracing 17,500 17,500

Ploughing, pitting & terracing Pitting, filling terracing

by Hitachi & complete tilling of 37,500 37,500inter rows

Pitting & terracing by Hitachi saves around 50 % of cost of land preparation compared to manual method

mechanised agronomic practices in rubber plantations …clinic.rubberboard.org.in/pdf/ircpdf/fm-02...

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