Archives of Current Research International

Cone weeders are developed for weeding operation particularly in paddy cultivation. One of the major constraints in using these hand-operated weeders is the physical effort that is needed to push the implement in the slush paddy fields and highly resistant clay soil. To overcome these problems, the design of intercultural equipment with an oscillating mechanism is necessary. This study aims to evaluate the performance of a Tractor-Operated Oscillating Intercultural Weeder for Rice. The selected paddy variety was raised in plastic trays, and the seeds were uniformly sown in trays using an automatic seed sowing machine. At the age of 21 days, rice seedlings were transplanted with a self-propelled riding type 6-row transplanter. The type of soil under which the crop was raised was red sandy loam (sand, silt and clay per cent were 52.79, 24.51 and 22.7, respectively). The row-to-row spacing of transplanted seedlings was 30 cm. The performance evaluation of the developed mini tractor-operated oscillating intercultural equipment was conducted in field conditions. The observations on weeding efficiency, plant damage, field capacity, and performance index were recorded. The performance of the machine was carried out under field conditions at 25 DAT. The weeding efficiency of the machine was observed as 81.39 per cent. The plant damage with machine was observed as 6 per cent. The field capacity and field efficiency of the machine were 0.30 ha h^-1 and 79.12 per cent, respectively. The wheel slip of the low-horsepower tractor when operating in a rice field with the machine was found to be 12.8 per cent, which is within the permissible limit. The performance index of the machine was observed to be 104.32. The cost of weeding with a developed machine was Rs. 1703 ha^-1 when compared with the manual traditional weeding practice of Rs. 3050 ha^-1.