Overview of Manually Operated Paddy Transplanter

Agriculture is the most important sector in the Indian economy. It is the most important source of employment for most of the country’s labor force. In 2012, about 49% of the labor force was engaged in agriculture. The highest proportion of these is in the rice sector. Rice is the country’s main stable food. The release of labor to sectors other than agriculture is important to the development of the country. The mechanization of rice fields has played an important role in liberating labor. Feeding a growing population is a huge challenge. The import of rice will cause the country’s economy to drain. The mechanization of the rice sector will lead to higher productivity and release labor to other sectors. The goal of the project is to design a rice transplanting mechanism for small farmers in the country to transplant rice seedlings.

Control of Microdochium albescens in pre-germinated and dryland rice seeds

ABSTRACT: The fungus Microdochium albescens can interfere in the germination of seeds and in the death of rice seedlings; however, there is not technical indication for its control by seed treatment. This research evaluated the efficiency of fungicides in the treatment of pre-germinated and dryland rice seeds in the control of M. albescens. Seeds of the cultivars, Epagri 109, SCS116 Satoru, SCS121 CL and SCS122 Miura were treated with the following fungicides (g a.i./100 kg of seeds): fluazinam + thiophanate methyl (9.45 + 63), pyraclostrobin + thiophanate methyl (5 + 45), carboxin + thiram (60 + 60), metalaxyl-M + thiabendazole + fludioxonil (3 + 22.5 + 3.75), carbendazim + thiram (45 + 105), carbendazim (45). Seeds without fungicide treatment constituted the control. The treated seeds were sown in potato-sucrose-agar (PSA) culture medium and incubated at 25 ± 2 °C and photoperiod of 12 hours for 14 days. Treated seeds were also submitted to the germination test. Fluazinam + thiophanate methyl and metalaxyl-M + thiabendazole + fludioxonil showed greater control of M. albescens, not differing statistically between them, in the five cultivars and in the two cultivation systems. The tested fungicides provided seed germination above 90% in the four cultivars.

Priming Effect of Exogenous ABA on Heat Stress Tolerance in Rice Seedlings is Associated with the Upregulation of Antioxidative Defense Capability and Heat Shock-Related Genes

Heat stress is a major restrictive factor that suppresses rice production. In this study, we investigated the potential priming effect of exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) on heat tolerance in rice seedlings. Seedlings were pretreated with 10 μM ABA by root drenching for 24 h and then subjected to heat stress conditions of 40 °C day/35 °C night. ABA pretreatment significantly decreased leaf withering by 2.5– 28.5% and chlorophyll loss by 12.8–35.1% induced by heat stress in rice seedlings. ABA application also mitigated cell injury, as shown by lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content, membrane injury and expression of cell death-related genes OsKOD1 , OsCP1 and OsNAC4 , while expression of OsBI1 , a cell death-suppressor gene, was upregulated by ABA pretreatment. Moreover, ABA pretreatment improved antioxidant defense capacity, as shown by an obvious upregulation of ROS-scavenging genes and a decrease in ROS content (O 2 – and H 2 O 2 ) and downregulation of the OsRbohs gene. The application of fluridone, an ABA biosynthesis inhibitor, increased membrane injury and the accumulation of ROS under heat stress. Exogenous potent antioxidants (proanthocyanidins, PC) significantly alleviated leaf withering by decreasing ROS overaccumulation and membrane injury induced by heat stress. In addition, ABA pretreatment significantly superinduced the expression of ABA-responsive genes SalT and OsWsi18 , the ABA biosynthesis genes OsNCED3 and OsNCED4 , and the heat shock-related genes OsHSP23.7 , OsHSP17.7 , OsHSF7 and OsHsfA2a . Taken together, these results suggest that exogenous ABA has a potential priming effect for enhancing heat stress tolerance of rice seedlings mainly by improving antioxidant defense capacity and heat shock-related genes.