Mechanical Rice Transplanting in Bangladesh: Current Situation, Technical Challenges, and Future Approach

Purpose Rice covers most of the cropping area in Bangladesh which is mostly a labor-intensive crop. The conventional approach of rice transplanting is labor-intensive and requires hardship. Mechanization in transplanting is needed to make agriculture economical due to labor shortage and high wages of laborers. Cost-effective and easy to use, a mechanical rice transplanter is an excellent choice. Rice transplanting issues, technological limitations in the adoption of mechanical transplanter, and future research to make mechanical transplanter more user-friendly are summarized in this paper. Methods The articles were gathered and reviewed using search engines like Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct, Springer Link, Wiley Online, Taylor & Francis Online, Academia, and Research Gate. Indexed journals, conference proceedings, academic presentations, and thesis/dissertations are all included in this study’s scope. Results Maintaining the soil’s physical qualities is thought to aid in crop management and increase output. Although mechanical transplanters are more effective than their manual counterparts, they are not yet widely used due to factors such as expensive startup costs, a lack of experience in developing mat-type nurseries, and farmers’ weak financial conditions. When attempting to grow rice using mechanical transplants, it may be helpful to employ strategies including instructing technical competence, guaranteeing timely availability, boosting custom recruitment, and offering government incentives. Conclusions A mechanized rice transplanter may be a viable option to alleviate labor shortages and minimize farm operating costs. However, slower acceptance is attributed to the difficulty of cultivating paddy nurseries on trays and mats, as well as inadequate reaction from stakeholders, as mechanical rice transplanters are not widely used yet. Farmers would be more likely to plant seedlings in beds or trays if they could do so easily. Many landowners can benefit from the assistance of an entrepreneur in planting paddy at the same time. It is possible to increase the rate at which existing rice transplanter machines are put into use by providing adequate on-the-job training to relevant stakeholders in nursery preparation processes and planting machine handling. Bangladesh needs a rice transplanter that is both low-cost and simple to use. A low-cost, semi-automatic rice transplanter could be a solution for mitigating labor shortages and reducing farm opera