Rajen Bajgain 19-04-2013 Laser land leveling- for Precision
Agriculture in Nepal Slide 2 Introduction Slide 3 Introduction-
Nepal and its agriculture Land area:147181 sq.km 3 main geographic
regions i) Terai and inner Terai (plain )-34000 km2 ii) Hills-
61000 km2 iii) Mountains- 52000km2 Population around 30 millions
Only 16% is the agricultural land is cultivable (Nepal, National
Planning Commission,-WFP-NDRI 2010) Terai (plain)- 56% Hills- 37%
Mountains- 7% Land leveling: i)Animal drawn levelers ii)Tractor
drawn lavelers Slide 4 Problems of uneven soil surface Impact on
germination Stand and yield of crops- nutrient and water
distribution pattern Delays tillage Increased weed burden Uneven
maturity of crops Water logging in wheat field Uneven distribution
of irrigation waterNon uniform crop stand in an undulated field
Slide 5 LASER Leveling System process of smoothening land from its
average elevation using laser guided buckets involves altering the
field to create a constant slope of 0-0.2% use of large HP tractors
and soil movers equipped with laser guided instrumentation Slide 6
Laser Transmitter Laser Receiver Electrical Control Panel Twin
Solenoid Hydraulic Control Valve Components: Slide 7 Transmitter
Mounts on a tripod Sends the laser beam in a circular manner
Several tractors can receive Slide 8 Receiver Mounts on a mast
attached to the drag bucket Omni-directional and intercepts the
laser beam and sends to control box Slide 9 Control panelHydraulic
control valve Mounts on tractor within reach of operator Accepts
and interprets the signal received from receiver Indicates the drag
bucket position Raises and lowers the bucket based on oil flow
Slide 10 1. Land leveling and yield (Rickman 2002) Increase in crop
yield = 24% (530kg/ha) 2. Time required and suitability of
different land leveling techniques Benefits: Slide 11 3. Estimated
additional area that can be brought under cultivation after laser
land leveling Map showing the increased cultivable area after laser
land leveling (Rajput and Patel, 2003) Slide 12 Limitations: High
cost of the equipment/laser instrument. Need for skilled operator.
Need of more or less regular sized and shaped field. 4. Other
benefits: Increase irrigation efficiency- uniform distribution,
reduction in time and amount to irrigate the fields Good
germination and growth of crops Improved field traffic ability Less
input Scope and intervention: Subsidy or cooperative effort and
operator training Design and development of user friendly
technology based on local needs Slide 13 References M.L Jat,
Pravesh Chandna, Raj Gupta, S.K. Sharma and M.A. Gill. 2006. Laser
Land Leveling: A Precursor Technology for Resource Conservation.
Rice-Wheat Consortium Technical Bulletin Series 7. new Delhi,
India: Rice Wheat Consortium for the Indo- Gangetic Plains. pp 48.
Rickman, J.F. 2002. Manual for laser land leveling, Rice- Wheat
Consortium Technical Bulletin Series 5. New-Delhi 12, India: Rice
Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic plains pp.24.
