Abstract
This study investigated the status of mechanized power and
self-propelled rice cultivation machinery in Guilan Province
in northern Iran. The raw data was obtained from 2013 statistics
of the Agricultural Jihad Organization of Guilan province.
Power per unit of area, mechanization level, area per unit of
self-propelled machinery, and mechanization requirement were
calculated for eastern, western and central Guilan. The mean
power per unit of area for eastern, western and central Guilan
was 2.22, 2.07, and 3.09 hpha-1
, respectively. The total mechanization
requirements were determined to be 0%, 73.39%,
99.28%, and 52.47% for land preparation, transplanting,
weeding, and harvesting operations, respectively. The area per
self-propelled rice machinery was 111.38, 3777.97, and 358.99
ha for rice transplanter, weeder, and combine harvester, respectively.
This indicates that there is insufficient mechanization
for rice weeding and that there is an urgent need to increase
the machinery available for this agronomic operation in the
paddy fields of Guilan Province.