15-07-2025
Ludhiana: ‘Tractor-seeder' set to reform paddy farming
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) introduced a tractor-operated mat-type nursery seeder that is fast becoming a farmer's favourite. Traditionally, raising a mat-type nursery, essential for mechanical paddy transplantation, involved tedious manual labour, slow processes, and high costs but this new innovation by PAU has changed the game. Paddy being transplanted through the use of PAU tractor-operated mat type nursery seeder in Ludhiana on Monday. (HT Photo)
Developed in 2021, the tractor-operated seeder streamlines all key tasks such as soil preparation, polythene laying, seed sowing, and soil covering in one go. Operable with a 40+ HP tractor, the machine can prepare mats for transplanting in about 150 acres per day, with a fuel usage of just 4.65 litres per hour. It saves 64–68% of costs and 93–94.4% of labour, making it 30 times more efficient than traditional methods.
This smart seeder sows evenly, forms consistent mats of 24–27 mm thickness, and eliminates the drudgery of manual seedbed preparation. The success has been evident on the ground too. In Hoshiarpur, three progressive farmers used the machine under expert guidance during Kharif 2023 and cultivated nurseries over 300 acres. By Kharif 2025, that number rose to 500 acres. One of them, Gurdeep Singh from Kot Fatuhi, was even awarded the CRI Pumps Award for farm mechanisation at the Kisan Mela held in PAU in March 2025.
Encouraged by PAU-KVK's training drives and field demonstrations, many farmers are now purchasing the machine, priced at ₹3.35 lakh, with a 40% government subsidy. With 28 machines already sold across India by Rajarh Agricultural Works, Mullanpur, the innovation is gaining ground.
