Improving Transportation and Transplanting Efficiency of Flue-cured Tobacco by Transportation of Naked Seedlings

Yong HU, Yongqin WU, Hengyuan LI, Longfei CHANG, Yin LIU, Jun ZOU

Qingzhen Tobacco, Guizhou Industry of China Tobacco, Qingzhen 551400, China

With progress made on fluecure tobacco, a complete cultivation technology system has formed, especially for the improvement and extension of the cultivation technology with plastic film mulching, reducing work of ploughing,ridging and application of additional fertilizer[1]. However, compared with developed countries, tobacco production still lags behind in China, transplanting of tobaccos in particular.Therefore, the research made a test on transportation of naked seedlings.

Materials and Methods

The test was conducted in a nursery in Ludi Village, Hongfenghu Town,Qingzhen City.

Test design

The test designed two treatments,namely, naked seedlings were transplanted with frames and trays.Specifically,plastic frames with slots for fixing tobaccos, whose length of 60 cm,width of 42 cm, and height of 18 cm,were used for transporting tobacco seedlings, and trays, made of polystyrene,were also available for tobacco transportation.

Results and Analysis

Comparisons on transportation efficiency

On basis of comparison test, tobaccos were transported by trucks(4.07 m3) and every truck would carry 78 baskets of tobacco seedlings. Furthermore, every basket contained about 600 seedlings, and totaling 46 800 seedlings were carried. In contrast, about 112 trays can be carried per truck and about 15 680 seedlings can be transported given every tray contained 140 seedlings.

After measurement, for tobacco basket,about 11 600 seedlings/m3can be carried and 3 900 seedlings for tray. As shown in Table 1, every truck carried 31 120 seedlings more with basket, compared with tray, suggesting that additional seedlings at 7 700 seedlings/m2can be transported,which dramatically improved transportation efficiency of tobacco seedlings with tobacco basket.

Comparisons of transplanting efficiency

In order to guarantee all seedlings grow uniformly, the transplanted seedlings should be cultivated as much as possible on the transplantingday[2].In the test,seedlings were transplanted as per specialized services.For example, seedlings were supplied as per order management and tobacco farmers can not keep tobacco seedlings longer at home, due to transportation of naked seedlings,which improves urgency of transplanting and reduces the transplanting cycle.

Table 1 Comparisons of the number of seedlings carried per unit area

Comparisons on economic benefits

Based on field calculation, about 25 baskets of tobacco seedlings can be carried by one staff, covering seedling selection, packaging and carrying to trucks, and one staff could be responsible for 110 trays of seedlings,in contrast. As shown in Table 2, although the transportation of naked seedlings with basket required two more trucks compared with transportation with trays,the price only kept 0.20 yuan/104seedlings higher.

In terms of transportation benefits,the transportation price was fixed at 90 yuan per truck from greenhouse to transplanting field; tobacco seedlings transported with frames totaled 46 800 and with trays reached 15 680. It can be concluded that the transportation price with frames was 38.16 yuan/104seedlings lower compared with transportation with trays(Table 2).

As shown in Table 3,gross cost of transportation with frames was 37.96 yuan/104 seedlings lower and it is about 9 km from the greenhouse to transplanting field. Hence, according to transportation cost, gross cost in transporting naked seedlings with frames reached 64 400 yuan/104seedlings and 106 300 yuan/104seedlings with trays.

It is obvious that the transportation of naked seedlings with frames would save 4.19 yuan/104seedlings per km compared with transportation with trays.

Table 2 Comparisons on labor cost in truck loading

Table 3 Calculation of gross cost at transportation

Conclusions and Discussions

The research proved that the transportation of naked seedlings with frames would effectively lower transportation cost and increase the number of transported seedlings per unit.For example, by transportation with frames, every truck could carry more 31 120 seedlings compared with transportation with trays, and about additional 7 700 seedlings/m2can be transported, suggesting that average transportation price would drop by 4.19 yuan/104seedlings. What’s more,transportation of naked seedlings would considerably improve transplanting urgency, guarantee seedling growth, and reduce transplanting period. In addition, the trays for seedling cultivation can be accumulated in greenhouses for future use.

[1]JI CC (纪成灿), HUANG YL (黄一兰),WU ZJ (吴正举), et al. Application of portable transplanters and the effects on tobacco seedlings (便捷式移栽器的应用及对烟株生长的影响)[J]. Chinese Tobacco Science(中国烟草科学),1998,(4):38-40.

[2]GUO YQ (郭月清).Tobacco cultivation technology(烤烟栽培技术)[M].Zonghou Jindun Press ( 总后金盾出版社),2008.7.1