Evaluation of Power Weeders for Mechanized Weeding in Pulse Crop Cultivation

Now a days weeding necessitates the introduction of suitable power weeders for pulse cultivation. A study was conducted at TNAU fields with 3 models of commercially available power weeders (Model A, B and C). To suit the power weeder the crop geometry was modified with 60x10 cm and the performance of three power weeder models were compared with conventional method of hand weeding. The working width of the power weeders was 60 cm, 60 cm and 30 cm respectively for Model A, B and C. Manual weeding using hand hoe registred maximum weeding efficiency of 83.10 per cent (wet basis) and 82.5 per cent (dry basis). The weeding efficiency of Model A was 74.10 per cent (wet basis) and 73.45 per cent(dry basis), Model B recorded 63.49 per cent (wet basis) and 64.15 per cent (dry basis) and Model C recorded the lowest weeding efficiency of 43.43 per cent (wet basis) and 43.13 per cent (dry basis). The saving in cost of weeding was observed as 75.8, 72.5 and 54.8 per cent respectively for Models A, B and C when compared to manual weeding. The saving in time of weeding operation was 95.8, 94.6 and 89.8 per cent for Models A, B and C, respectively when compared to the manual weeding.