Hand-Fed Vegetable Transplanter for Use with a Walk-Behind-Type Hand Tractor

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn smallholdings and market gardens in India and other Asian countries, walk-behind hand-controlled tractors are the major source of farm power. Conventional manual transplanting of bare root vegetable seedlings is labor intensive and time consuming, and there exists a need for mechanical transplanting using a hand-controlled tractor as the source of power. A two-row vegetable transplanter for transplanting soil block seedlings was developed as matching equipment for a walk-behind hand tractor. Field performance, quality of work, cost of operation, and yield were compared with conventional manual transplanting of bare root seedlings using a row marker and hand hoe. Soil block seedlings were placed on a metering conveyor of the transplanter by two laborers who also maneuvered the hand tractor. Seedlings were carried by the horizontal chain conveyor to a hopper-type planting device that planted seedlings in an upright orientation. The planting rate of the transplanter was 31 plants·min−1 with a maximum of 2.75% missed plantings and 3.38% tilted plantings. The field capacity of the transplanter was 0.045 ha·h−1 for transplanting Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) and Chilli Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) at an inter- and within-row spacing of 45 cm and 0.06 ha·h−1 for transplanting Eggplant (S. melongena L.) in an inter- and within-row spacing of 60 cm. The vegetable transplanter was efficient for planting soil block seedlings of tomato, eggplant, and chilli pepper with plant heights of 13–17, 11–15, and 10–14 cm with 8–10, 4–6, and 8–10 leaves, respectively. Cost of soil block seedlings accounted for 77%–83% of total cost of mechanical transplanting. The vegetable transplanter has the potential of saving 83%–85% of time involved with seedling establishment and 66%–69% labor involved in conventional transplanting in market gardens. Mechanical transplanting decreased number of days to harvest, with total yield slightly higher than that of conventional transplanting. The vegetable transplanter holds promise for use in market gardens and smallholdings for faster transplanting, earlier growth, and higher yield of vegetables.