Performance Evaluation of Power Weeder in Sugarcane Crop

Abstract

Weeding is an important and labour intensive agricultural operation and about 1/3rd of the cost of cultivation is accounted towards weed control operation alone. Any delay and negligence in weeding operation effects the crop yields up to 30-40%. Today the agricultural sector requires non-chemical weed control that safeguards consumers demand for high quality food products and pay special attention to food safety. The objectives of the study was to evaluate the performance of power weeder by evaluating the energy consumption and cost economics of power weeder in sugarcane crop. The evaluation was conducted at soil different moisture contents at 30,45 and 60 days after sowing (DAS) at different speeds of weeder. The bulk density decreased from 0.84 to 0.65 g cm-3 with increased soil moisture content from 7±1 to 12±1 per cent. The field capacity of power weeder varied from 0.0347 to 0.137 ha h-1 when operated with 3 forward speeds at 30, 45 and 60 DAS. The weeding efficiency of power weeder is in the range of 98.74 to 91.22% at 0.584 km h-1, 96.80 to 84.93% at 1.35 km h-1 and 94.67 to 73.72% at 4.153 km h-1. The minimum and maximum plant damage is observed at a forward speeds of 0.584 km h-1 and 4.153 km h-1. When operated at lower speeds the plant damage will be minimum whereas operating at high speeds will result in maximum plant damage. Field machine index of the weeder is observed as 0.83, 0.82 and 0.864 for 30, 45 and 60 DAS. The cost of weeding per hectare is calculated as Rs.3,878 ha-1 and Rs.8000 ha-1 for mechanical and traditional weeding, respectively. It can be started and operated by farmer or any unskilled labour with ease. Also working with power weeder in between the rows is easy with a very less maintenance cost.