A Survey on the Current Status of Mechanization of Paddy Cultivation in Iran: Case of Guilan Province

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.