Abstract
Planting work for Allium × wakegi Araki bulbs, a specialty vegetable from Hiroshima Prefecture, is harsh to the body since it is performed manually in a squatting position. Therefore, a reduction in labor effort and an improvement in planting efficiency are needed. A new method of bulb planting was developed using a simple transplanting machine for Allium fistulosum L. The process for planting is as follows. First, the bulbs are loaded into a connected paper pot placed on a raising seedling box for rice, and filled with a culture medium. The connected paper pot is then immersed to dissolve the starch, loaded onto the transplanter and pulled. The authors conclude that the method is highly applicable to Allium × wakegi Araki, since the proportion of bulbs that can be loaded into the connected paper pot before planting is 94% of the cultivated bulbs. The immersion time to dissolve the starch was 22 minutes, during which the water temperature is approximately 30°C, 35 minutes, during which the water temperature is approximately 20°C and 43 minutes, during which the water temperature is approximately 10°C. High practicality was indicated, given that the growth and yield of Allium × wakegi Araki was the same as for those bulbs grown using a conventional method. However, such as an uneven planting depth, felled bulb upon planting, and tangling in the machine, were encountered upon planting the bulbs with available machines. Therefore, these problems were designated as points of concern in the development of a new type of machine that is adapted to bulb planting.
