The Impact of Land Preparation Operations on the Land Leveling Index Status in a Rice Field

Land preparation is essential in rice cultivation. Levelling is one activity of land preparation that is done to achieve good crop establishment and high-yield production. There are several methods for achieving this. Implementing the major levelling method or the cut and fill method produces the best land levelling results, especially during the dry season. However, during the wet season, this method cannot be implemented to level the land as the amount of water in the soil would make it impossible to do any cut and fill operation. As a result, this study was carried out to evaluate the outcome of various methods of land levelling. Land levelling work was done using a power tiller, box leveler, and power harrow implements. Meanwhile, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) with the support of a Real Time Kinematic (RTK) system was used to map the levelness of the land. Land levelness mapping data was taken after each land preparation activity was done. Following that, the mapping data was processed to determine the levelling index for each activity. A high value of the levelling index indicated a more perfect levelling quality of the land. A total of two study plots at MARDI Parit Station, Perak, were used for this study, with each plot having an area of 0.5 hectares. The results showed that the average levelling index for the power tiller, box leveler, and power harrow was 60.0%, 76.8%, and 85.9%, respectively. The use of a box leveler resulted in the greatest increase in the levelling index, with a difference of 24.2% compared to an increase of 11.9% with a power harrow. In conclusion, some land preparation activities can improve land levelness quality even during the wet season. Furthermore, during the wet season, the use of a box leveler can be recommended during land preparation work to replace major levelling work that cannot be performed to improve the quality of the land's levelness.