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Design and Development of a Power Weeder for Row Crop

M A Hoque
Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, BARI, Gazipur.

M A Matin
Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, BARI, Gazipur.

M A Wohab
Principal Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, BARI, Gazipur

M A Hossaina
Senior Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Postharvest hocess Engineering Division, BARI, Gazipur

S Ahmmed
Chief Scientific officer
BARC, Dhaka.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

A power weeder was designed and developed in FMP Engineering divisional workshop, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARD, Gazipur in 2005-06. The weeder was improved and redesigned in 2009-2010 by AutoCAD 2004 software, Then the weeder was fabricated according to design with locally available materials and spare parts. An additional gearbox was incorporated to get the facility of forward and backward motion of the weeder. A hand clutch connected with a dog clutch was also added to get the turning facilities. The weeder was tested with its rotary blade attachment for weeding maize in 2009-10. The treatments were T₁- Weedy (control), T₂-Hand weeding at 20-25 days after sowing (DAS) and T₁-Weeding by power weeder at 20-25 DAS. Among the treatments, T₂ and T₃ produced statistically similar yields, but significantly higher than that of T₁. Mechanical weeding by the power weeder saved about g0% weeding cost and associated labour requirement. T₃ produced the highest benefit and the lowest weeding cost. The average field capacity of the weeder was 0.093 ha/h and weeding index was found 0.75.

Keywords: Design and development, Power weeder, Row Crop

Location: Bangladesh Agricultural University, Gazipur.

Start Date: 00-00-2005

End Date: 00-00-2010

Program Area: Farm Mechanization

Commodity: Weeder

Objectives:

a) To design and develop a power weeder

b) To test the performance of the weeder for weeding maize

Methodology:

Design consideration of the power weeder. Some points were considered while designing the power weeder. The machine should be-*suitable for weeding maize and other wide row upland crops * fabricate with locally available materials *simple to operate and transport * adjustable in depth and width of weeding

Dign features: The weeder was designed for upland crops.Three dimensional drawing of the power weeder was done by Auto CAD 2004. From that drawing front and side views were drawn and all functional parts were drawn with dimensions in mm.shows the 3D drawings of the weeder. The power weeder was fabricated at workshop of FMP Engineering division. BARI, Gazipur in 2009-10. It weighed about 145 kg with rotary blade attachment.Ground wheel: The weeder was supported on two ground wheels made of 50 mm flat bar. The wheel diameter was 457 mm. Lugs, made of 40x40x5 mm MS angle bar of 12 mm height, were 55 mm apart to provide grip on soil. The wheel to wheel distance was adjustable between 560 mm and 610 mm which allowed operating between 30, 40, 70, cm rows.Laboratory test: To ascertain various design parameter of the weeder, laboratory test was carried out to determine the engine speed, rotary speed and fuel consumption. Fuel consumption was determined from operating the power weeder at field speed in tilled soil and measuring the time and volume of fuel required.Field test: The experiment was conducted at the research farm of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur during rabi season of 2009-2010. The soil was clay loam. The experimental plots were well pulverized with a tractor and leveled with a bullock drawn ladder. Soil moisture was recorded before each treatment was imposed.Crop and weeds: BARI Khai Bhutta was planted manually in the experimental plots (6x3.5 m each) with 75x25 cm row spacing (as recommended by BARI). Each plot accommodated five rows. The planting date was 07 December 2009. Species wise density of all weeds was recorded before and just after the treatments imposed. The weed sampling was done randomly in middle three rows in 50x75 cm quadrants. Three steel frames (50x75 cm) were placed in the middle of the row positioning 75 cm sides along the row. Weeds close to plants and between rows were not damaged in mechanical methods, but all the weeds were removed in manual method. The weeds partially damaged (not up rooted) were counted as uncontrolled.Fertilizer, irrigation and earthing up: Fertilizers were applied to the soil at the rate of Urea-550 kg/ha, TSP-260 kg/ha, MP-140 kg/ha and Zypsum-260 kg/ha. One-third of the urea and all other fertilizers were applied during final land preparation. Remaining two-thirds urea was top-dressed in two equal splits at 45 and 75 DAS followed by irrigation. A light irrigation was applied at 6 DAS for proper emergence of the crop (softened soil crest). Excess water from rainfall was drained out immediately. Three irrigations were applied at.45, 75 and 90 DAS. At 45 DAS, earthing up was done manually by spade in all the plots.Experimental design The study included three treatments replicated thrice. Weeding was done at 25 DAS. The experiment was designed in Randomized Complete Block. The treatments were- T₁ - Weedy (control), T₂- Hand weeding at 20-25 DAS, T₃ - Weeding by power weeder at 20-25 DAS

Source of Information: Journal of Agricultural Engineering, Vol-38/AE, No-2, Dec-2010

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Recent trend of labour shortage and seasonal price hike has led the farmers to use efficient farm machinery. From the experiment it was found that the power weeder could be an effective means for fast and low cost weeding of maize. The yield was slightly higher in manual method than that in mechanical method. The costs of weeding and ultimate benefit were significantly higher in mechanical method.

Knowledge Management: Journal