Effect of mole drain and tracked agricultural prime movers on soft soil paddy areas
Mohd Taufik Ahmad1, Omar Mohamad Fakhrul Zaman2, Md Isa Mohamed Fauzi3, Khadzir Mohd Khusairy4, Sharu Eddy Herman5, Aziz Mohd Hashim6, Othman Azlan7, Md Nor Saifulizan8, Abu Kasim Bunyamin9, Norhafizi Mansor10.
Soft soil condition has become a major problem faced by Malaysian paddy farmers. MARDI has developed mole drain subsoiler and tracked agricultural prime movers to overcome this problem. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effect of mole drain integration and tracked prime movers on soft soil area. The mole drain was installed on an identified soft soil area at an experimental plot at the Department of Agriculture (DOA) Station, Kg Bukit Merah, Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang. Tracked prime movers were used for land preparation, transplanting and harvesting. Soil strength data and rainfall were monitored and collected on a monthly basis, using penetrologger and weather station, respectively. Results showed that the soft soil condition of the plot was reduced to from 79% to 17%, corresponding to a reduction of 62%.This shows that mole drain system and tracked agricultural prime movers have the potential to reduce soft soil problem in paddy fields.
Affiliation:
- Malaysian Agricultural and Research Development Institute (MARDI), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
- MARDI Alor Setar, Malaysia
- MARDI Seberang Perai, Malaysia
- MARDI Seberang Perai, Malaysia
- Malaysian Agricultural and Research Development Institute (MARDI), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
- MARDI Seberang Perai, Malaysia
- MARDI Seberang Perai, Malaysia
- MARDI Seberang Perai, Malaysia
- Malaysian Agricultural and Research Development Institute (MARDI), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
- Malaysian Agricultural and Research Development Institute (MARDI), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
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