Development of Equipment for Weeding and Interculture

Weeds take water and nutrients from the soil and as a result the desired plants cannot get enough nutrients and hence, weeds in the field must be removed. Weeds are mainly controlled by mechanical and chemical methods. Each of these methods has certain merits and a wise farmer makes use of the one or a combination of these methods to control weeds efficiently and economically. Mechanical weeders are available from basic hand tools to sophisticated tractor operated or self-propelled machines. This paper deals with mechanical weeders developed at TNAU, Coimbtore that have scope to become popular in our country for the benefit of farmers and agricultural machinery manufacturers as well.