本研究引入日本稻種鐵粉粉衣技術，主要目標為解決水稻湛水直播時稻種易遭受鳥害及浮苗等問題。試驗首先針對5 個水稻品種進行浸潤前處理之發芽特性評估，依據結果縮短鐵粉粉衣前之浸潤處理時間及溫度，以提升臺灣水稻品種鐵粉粉衣後發芽率，並比較鐵粉稻種與無處理稻種直播於田間時遭受鳥害之情形，結果顯示鐵粉稻種可有效降低被鳥類取食之機率，提高直播秧苗成活率。臺灣水稻栽培雖普遍以育苗移植為主，然而少數地區受限於土壤特性不易機械插秧，部分農民採用湛水直播配合藥劑防鳥方式栽培，影響生態甚鉅。本試驗結果提供農民進行水稻直播時，可採行對環境較友善之種植方式選擇。現有技術： 現行臺灣水稻栽培主要採育苗後移植為主；少數地區進行催芽後撒播之直播栽培，但直播稻種於田間易遭受鳥害、灌水後容易浮苗等問題。創新內容： 導入日本稻種鐵粉粉衣技術，減少田間鳥類取食直播稻種情形，並依據臺灣品種發芽特性調整鐵粉披覆前處理流程，以提升鐵粉稻種發芽率。對產業影響： 應用稻種鐵粉粉衣技術可減少直播稻種受鳥類取食，而無需使用毒鳥藥劑，對環境較為友善。

Iron-coating of rice seeds was introduced to Taiwan from Japan in this study. The purpose of this study is to solve bird damage and seedlings floating in direct seeding rice field. Five rice cultivars were used to evaluate the germination characteristics in the different soaking pretreatments. Based on the results, the time of soaking step before iron-coating was shortened to improve the germination percentage of Taiwan rice varieties. Afterwards, the iron-coating seeds showed better effect on preventing from bird damage than seeds without iron-coating. Although transplanting is the main method for rice cultivation in Taiwan, some farmers tend to choose direct-seeding due to the high viscosity soil property of their fields. However, direct-seeding combined with chemical control have caused dramatic population decrease of rare birds in the past decades. Results obtained from this study might provide an environment-friendly choice for farmers to reduce bird damage in direct seeding rice field. What is already known on this subject? While transplanting is currently the main method for rice cultivation in Taiwan, direct-seeding method as a labor-saving choice is still popular in a few locations. However, rice seedlings in direct-seeding field often suffer from floating seedlings and birds attack. What are the new findings? In this study rice seeds iron-coating method from Japan was introduced to Taiwan. Iron-coating seeds show good results on preventing birds attack. The coating procedure was modified to fit the germination traits of Taiwan rice varieties, to improve the germination rate of iron-coating seeds. What is the expected impact on this field? Iron-coating seeds could be an environment-friendly choice to replace traditional chemical way to reduce birds attack in direct-seeding field.