Performance of Power Operated Sweep Hoe on Moisture Conservation, Weed Suppression and Yield of Finger Millet (Eleusina indica)

A field experiment was conducted in the Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra, Bangalore to quantify the soil moisture status and its effect on crop yield under varied rainfall situation in the region. The loss of soil moisture during critical period of crop growth (tillering, flowering and grain filling stages) result in the drastic reduction of yield. It could be prevented by adopting newly designed improved sweep bent tyne hoe through effective weed control and efficient intercultural operation. The present study clearly indicated that the power operated improved sweep type inter-cultural hoe confirms the superiority in conservation of soil moisture condition (13.87 to 15.07, 10.37 to 12.14 and 8.10 to 9.29% during tillering, flowering and grain filling stage respectively) followed by bullock drawn bent tyne hoe (7.22 to 14.09%) and blade harrow (7.70 to 13.55%) irrespective of the critical stages of the crop growth period. The study revealed that the fresh weed biomass using improved sweep hoe was more (3.14t/ha) as compared to bullock drawn bent tyne hoe (1.88t/ha) and blade harrow (1.56t/ha). It was also observed that the weed efficiency of newly developed sweep hoe was high (78.99 to 86.38%) compared to bent tyne hoe (76.68 to 79.99%) and blade harrow (75.15 to 77.11%).