Impact of Mechanically Transplanted (MTR) Technology on Rice Productivity and Farmers Livelihoods in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

This article tries to find out the adoption and economic benefits of Mechanically Transplanted Rice (MTR) technology among rice-growing small farmers of the Gujranwala district of Punjab, Pakistan. Rice is a primary food and export crop, and any efforts towards increasing the efficiency of rice production are critical to the sustainability of the agricultural sector. The transplanting process is time-consuming as well as intensive labor, involving manual cleaning of the transplant housing; on the other hand, MTR provides a potential approach to alleviate the dependency on labor and optimize crop management. The information was gathered using structured interviews with 120 rice farmers, 60 adopters, and 60 non-adopters of MTR. Descriptive statistics, profitability analysis, and binary logistic regression were also used to evaluate the socio-economic differences, variations in profitability, and influential determinants when making choices regarding the adoption of MTR. The results show that the yields of MTR adopters were very high, the gross profit was significantly higher, and the labor cost was lower as compared to non-adopters. Regression analysis indicated that other variables that were significant in adoption included yield, female labor involvement, availability of machinery, labor cost, and access to training (p < 0.05). Even though there are such benefits, numerous farmers do not adopt due to a number of obstacles, such as the costs of machines, inexperienced operators, and the proximity of mat-type nurseries. The analysis of the study draws the conclusion that MTR possesses good prospects to enhance the productivity of rice and the income of farms in the area. To enable it to get wider uptake, some policy interventions that include the provision of training programs, rental subsidies, etc, and access to shared machinery services, particularly to small and medium-scale farmers, are necessary. Promoting MTR can help the modernisation of the Pakistan rice sector and rural livelihoods.