Effect of Mole drain and Tracked Agricultural Prime Movers on Soft Soil Paddy Areas

Abstract

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 is to evaluate the effect of integrating mole drain 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. Results showed that the soft soil condition of the plot was reduced to from 79% to 17%, a reduction of 62%.