Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

One of the most difficult but essential tasks in an agricultural unit operation in aromatic and medicinal crops is weed management. Delays in weed control and negligence affect the yield. In order to reduce the excessive use of weedicides, mechanical weeding is recommended instead of chemical or biological methods which keep soil surface dry and provide better aeration and moisture conservation. The modernisation of mechanical weeding has not yet been well developed in particular for small and marginal farmers. To that end, a battery-operated weeder has been developed and tested to assess its performance. The developed weeder consisted a BLDC hub motor, motor speed controller, Lithium iron phosphate battery, flat cutting blade and weed collecting tool as well as a drive wheel. The average field capacity, field efficiency and weeding efficiency of the weeder were found as 0.033 ha/h, 78.5% and 89.5% respectively. The weeder is gender friendly and therefore has scope of adoption by small and marginal hill farmers for timely weeding operations with reduced drudgery and reduced cost of operation compared to other weeding methods.