Effects of Mechanical Seeder Adoption in Rice Farming in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines

Mechanical Seeder (MS) is a machine for planting rice. The Mechanical Seeder was initially introduced to rice farmers in Cagayan Valley Region, Philippines. This study was conducted to assess the benefits of the Mechanical Seeder in rice farming. The respondents in this study were the farmer-users of both the Mechanical Seeder and Manual Transplanting method in their neighboring or adjacent farms. All data were gathered through the use of an interview schedule. Data were analyzed using cost and return analysis and partial budget analysis to determine the economic benefits. Yield data was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis to get the yield differences. Major problems encountered by the respondents were also documented. Results revealed that the use of Mechanical Seeder in 2018 can significantly increase yield by 0.42 tons/ha for the first cropping and 0.39 tons/ha for the second cropping. The net returns of Mechanical Seeder in 2018 were higher than manual transplanting by PhP12727.16 for the first cropping and PhP12459.66 for the second cropping as a result of higher yield with a difference and reduced cost for seeds and planting. The cost per kilogram of rice production using Mechanical Seeder was lower than using the manual transplanting method by PhP1.90 per kilogram for the first cropping and PhP1.91 per kilogram for the second cropping. The major problems encountered by the respondents in using the MS were the susceptibility to weed infestation, high pests’ infestation, hard to manage the irrigation and drainage system and water lodging which affected the germination of the seeds.