On Farm Testing on Assessment of Different Type of Weeders in Direct Seeded Rice

The performance of five type of weeders viz., cycle weeder, twin wheel hoe weeder, cono weeder, three blade weeder, and a local make designed by the farmers themselves were assessed and compared in direct sown paddy crop. The parameters of assessment included weeding efficiency, plant damage, musculoskeletal disorders, and cost economics. The results showed that, twin wheel hoe weeders in DSR has highest percentage of weeding efficiency, highest performance index, lowest plant damage and is economical to the tune of 60 per cent. Using twin wheel hoe weeder can destroy weeds by completely or partially burying weeds, uprooting and breaking the weed root contact with the soil. The use of weeders at 20–25 days after sowing (DAS) proved to be more beneficial than at later stage. The efficiency of the weeder was found to be 0.3 ha./d/man labour day vs 20–25 women/d/ha. The timely weeding and application of fertilizers is ensured in case of weeding done with twin wheel hoe weeder, while the labour dependency and timely availability of labours is a major problem in manual weeding.