Effects of Sowing Method on Growth of Directed Seeding Cultivation Ginseng in Paddy Fields

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of the selection of an appropriate sowing method in on ginseng growth, and the results are as follows. SAS (semi-automatic sower), commonly used by direct seeding farms, provides fast operation speed but results in high labor cost, while (Hooper Seeder Sowing) offers fast operation speed and high germination rate, but leads to increased laborer’s fatigue. Daily working area per sower was 6,611 m2 for a motor type, and the operation time to sow 3,305 m2 was 15 hours for broadcast planting, and 8 hours for SAS. The germination rate of 1-year-old ginseng according to direct seeding was 69.1% for the treatment plot under broadcast planting, followed by 66.4% and 67.3% for manual sower and hoop sower, respectively, and the germination rate of SAS was the lowest at 64.2%. In addition, there were no differences in shoot and root growth of 1-year-old ginseng among the sowing methods. Therefore, the sowing method can be chosen depending on the economic size of ginseng farmers. That broadcast sowing (BS) is appropriate for small scale farmers, while motor-driven seeder sowing (MDS) for direct seeding is more suitable for large scale farmers.