Naati Pani -Transplanting

Naati Pani

A part of the “Aipani”  the  five types of work carried out in paddy fields during the rainy season. Ploughing is the process in farming, to loosen the soil, Sowing is the process of planting seeds, Bund trimming is the process of clearing weeds grown inside the bund on a paddy field, Agae pani is the process of plucking seedlings and tying them in bundles for transplantation. Transplanting is the process of moving plant from one location to another location.

About

Rice transplantation can be done either manually or by machines. Manual transplantation suits best for small fields as it doesn’t require any costly machine. The seedlings are pulled out at an average of 15 to 30 days after seeding i.e when it is about 8-10 inches tall and these seedlings must be handled with care so that they grow rapidly. The paddy fields should be transplanted in certain order that it maintains optimum spacing and uniform plant density.

Mechanical transplantation requires less time as one person a day can plant one hectare of land. As mentioned in the “plucking seedlings method”, they are grown on a thin layer of soil in built in trays or seedling boxes and they are loaded on the machine for transplantation. For this method it is necessary to be ensured that the fields are well leveled and puddled.

Transplanting of paddy seedlings can either planted randomly or in a straight row.

In random transplanting distance from one plant to another is not uniform. It becomes difficult to operate weeder and other machineries for intellectual operations.

In straight row planting, seedlings are planted in a straight row. Weed can be removed more efficiently either by hand or using machines. Uniform growth of plant is possible in this method. Spraying insecticides and fertilizing becomes easier. There are many disadvantages in this method like, high labour cost, spacing varies with soil fertility and the space between the plants should not exceed 25cm.

Ancient times they used to sing Uyya Paat and is sung in the paddy fields , while the Naati Pani  that is transplanting rice saplings. As the people transplanting gets tired and bored , usually few minutes before ending the work, one among them starts singing Uyya Paat , others respond to it as “O uyya” .

Work Force

The work force for this would be either  Mui Aal – Kood Aal  or  regular wages