Question

What are the advantages of leveling?

Answer 1

Hint: Leveling can be accomplished manually or with the use of machinery and specialized equipment. Heavy earth movement should be avoided in order to preserve the natural soil structure, resulting in good growing conditions for crop roots and lower costs.

Complete answer:
The advantages of leveling are as follows:
1. Increased yield: Field leveling improves rice yield significantly. A strong correlation was discovered between the levelness of the land and crop yield in two experiments conducted in different locations.

2. Improved weed control: Land leveling boosts yield significantly by improving weed control. Improved water coverage caused by better land leveling reduces weeds by up to 40%. Weed reduction means less time spent weeding crops. The labor-days per ha are reduced from 21 to 5. This equates to a reduction of up to 16 person-days per hectare or a 75% reduction in weeding labor.

3. Expanded farming area: Larger fields are made possible by good land leveling. Larger fields expand farming areas while improving operational efficiency. Increasing the size of a field from 0.1 hectares to 0.5 hectares increases the farming area by 5% to 7%. This increase in the farming area allows the farmer to reshape the farming area, which can reduce operating times by 10% to 15%.

4. Quicker seeding/Less labor: Leveling shortens the time required for transplanting and direct seeding. Land leveling increases the possibility of using direct seeding. The potential labor savings from switching from transplanting to direct seeding is approximately 30 person-days per hectare.

5. More efficient use of water: Rice farmers who use animal or 2-wheel tractors rely on the accumulation of water in the field before beginning land preparation. The greater the difference in elevation between the highest and lowest parts of a rice field, the more water is required to ensure complete water coverage. Good leveling can reduce the total amount of water needed to grow the crop by up to 10%.

Note:
The Egyptian-German Water Resource Management Reform Programme in Egypt quantified the costs and benefits of land levelling (in Egyptian Pound (LE) per feddan and year). Because most Egyptian farmers level their land, the data did not compare plots that had not been levelled. Using a laser unit resulted in the highest yield increase and cost savings.