Edible Products. 



46 



[Jan. 1908. 



THE CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEE, MADRAS. 



Advantages of Transplanting Paddt. 



The following article on " The Advantages of Transplanting Paddy," contri- 

 buted to the August number of the Agricultural Gazette of Central Provinces for 

 1907, by Mr. D. Clouston, m.a.,b.sc, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Central 

 Provinces, is reprinted for general information in continuation of our Circular No. 14 

 on "Transplanting in Paddy Cultivation." 



The five methods of "sowing paddy practised in these Provinces are as 

 (1) transplanting, (2) biasi, (3) broadcasting without binsi, (4) sowing in lines, and 

 (5) lehi. Where transplanting is followed, the seed is first sown in a well-manured 

 nursery bed, and when the seedlings are about 9 inches higli, they are planted out 

 in the plots where the crop is to be grown. In biasi the seed is first sown broadcast, 

 and the plants are afterwards thinned out by working the country plough in the field, 

 When this thinning process is omitted, the seed is sown broadcast without any subse- 

 quent biasi, and the method is known as broadcasting. In the process known as lehi, 

 the seed is artificially germinated and then sown. By the fourth method, the seed 

 is sown in lines by means of a light three drill. This latter method is but seldom 

 practised in these Provinces, and has not, therefore, been included in the experi- 

 ments of the Raipur Government Farm. 



In an article which appeared in the November number of this Gazette in 

 1906, a detailed account was given of the method of transplanting ; this article will 

 deal with the results obtained from experiments conducted on the Raipur Farm 

 in which this method is compared with the other three commonly practised. These 

 experiments were carried out in Series " A " and " B " ; "A " being irrigated and " B '' 

 unirrigated. 



Both series of plots were uniformly manured with cattle-dung at the rate 

 of 20 lb. of nitrogen per acre. The plots are each l/10bh of an acre in area. The 

 results obtained from Series " A" are given in statement below:— 



Plot. 



Method of 

 Sowing. 





Outturn per 



acre in lb. 





Average value of 

 outturn, 1904-7 



Cost of cultivation 

 and manure. 



Average profit ob- 

 'tained from different 

 methods. 



1904- 



-1905. 



1905- 



-1906. 



1906- 



-1907. 



Grain. 



Straw, 



Grain. 



Straw. 



Grain. 



Straw. 



















Rs. A. 



Rs. A. 



Rs. A. 



1 



Transplanting 



1,940 



1,440 



1,630 



1,050 



1,840 



1,340 



46 11 



8 14 



+37 13 



2 



Biasi 



1,450 



1,0 



430 



340 



1,600 



1,240 



29 



10 2 



+18 14 



3 



Broadcasting .. 



750 



640 



740 



580 



1,240 



691 



23 5 



6 14 



+ 16 7 



4 



Lehi 



930 



1,010 



470 



410 



790 



570 



19 



10 7 



+ 89 



The transplanted plot has done best every year, and has yielded a net profit 

 that is double that of the second best plot, ie.,No.ll. It is often stated by culti- 

 vators who have never tried transplanting that it is suitable for irrigated paddy 

 only, and that even then it is not profitable on account of the additional 

 cost of labour involved. The results of this series of experiments prove 

 that both these statements are doubtful, for the plots were not irrigated, and 

 in calculating the profits derived from them, the cost of cultivation has been 

 deducted in each case. 



