Comparative Evaluation of Puddling Techniques in Sandy Loam Soil

Aims: Puddling is a distinct operation to provide standing water condition for paddy cultivation. There are various puddling techniques conventionally adopted by the farmers. In order to scientifically establish the performance of various puddling techniques in terms of puddling quality, they were evaluated and compared.

Study Design: The results were analyzed statistically using factorial experiment.

Place: The study was carried out in the experimental field of Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Kumulur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India. The texture of the soil is sandy loam (Clay = 12.5%, silt = 15.6% and sand = 71.9%).

Methodology: The conventionally used puddling techniques (viz., cage wheel, rotavator and power tiller operated rotary tool) were evaluated in terms of puddling index and infiltration rate. The evaluation parameters were determined using standard procedure.

Results: The puddling quality was not significantly affected by increasing number of pass from single to double. The power tiller operated rotary tool registered the highest puddling index of 61.18% and the lowest infiltration rate of 17.00 mm d-1 and the rotavator registered the second highest of 58.29% puddling index and 21.00 mm d-1 of infiltration rate. Area coverage was superior in the case of puddling with rotavator due to the larger width.

Conclusion: The overall performance of the rotavator was concluded to be the best among the various puddling techniques compared in this study.