Effects of Sowing Methods on Paddy Rice Yields and Milled Rice Quality in Rainfed Lowland Rice in Wet Savannah, Togo

Abstract

Identifying the socio-economic constraints of seeding technologies uptake and analyzing the yields, milled quality and growers’ income under various seeding methods are a strategy for sustainable rainfed lowland rice. A survey and an on-farm experiment were carried out at five locations with a random sample of 50 farmers grouped in five of the fourteen partner cooperatives of ESOP-Pagouda. The survey focused on socio-economic data collection. The experiment, replicated at five locations, involved three treatments: broadcast seeding, direct seeding, and transplanting. The paddy rice yields and milled rice quality were analyzed using R software version 4.1.3, and arithmetic means discriminated at the 5% by the Duncan test. The profitability indicators, such as the Gross Margin (GM) and the Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR), were calculated. The results showed that 14% of farmers adopted rice transplanting method. The transplanting method increased rice yield (3.3 t/ha) compared to direct seeding (2.8 t/ha) and broadcast seeding (2.2 t/ha). The milled long grain rate (56%) was significantly higher than those under both seeding methods. Additionally, the transplanting method improved the gross margin (1,146 $USD/ha) compared to 663 $USD/ha and 431 $USD/ha for direct and broadcast seeding, respectively. The benefit/cost ratio 1.5 for transplanting was almost double from that of both seeding methods. Despite its high demand for labor and agricultural inputs, the transplanting method provided the highest paddy rice yields and milled rice quality to improve farmers’ income.