The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has obtained a design patent for the development of Narrow Row Spaced Weeding and Earthing Up Equipment’, an innovation that experts believe will benefit farmers cultivating ‘narrow spaced’ crops, and find themselves constrained by the limited mobility of heavy tractors or power tiller operated units.
Designed with a focus on crops such as pulses and cereals, where the gap between two plants ranges from 30cm to 45cm (the narrow space classification), the equipment weeding cum earthing-up promises to improve agricultural practices.
“Mechanisation of farming has come a long way. So have ploughing and tilling machines. Harvesters too, both locally made and imported, are also being used. But weeding has been a huge problem which requires a lot of manpower,” says R Kavitha, professor and head of the department of farm machinery and power engineering.
Weeding is a daunting task, say agriculturalists, because farmers stay bent for hours at a stretch to remove weeds. While there is weeding equipment for wider-spaced crops (raised with a gap of more than 60cm), farmers are still dependent on manual labour for narrow-spaced crops, say TNAU researchers. This equipment can resolve the problem as it can be manoeuvred through narrow spaces without damaging crops.
The narrow row-spaced weeding and earthing-up equipment consist of a prime mover, ground wheel, power transmission, spading unit, and a miniature plough to do the earthing-up operation.
Earthing-up refers to the practice of creating a mound or ridge of soil around the base of a plant, which aerates the soil as well as helps suppress the growth of weeds around the plant. Creating a raised mound makes it more difficult for weed seeds to germinate and compete with the cultivated crop.
A miniature plough is attached to the spading unit for the earthing-up operation. Weeds are uprooted and chopped using a trapezium-shaped blade.
TNAU vice-chancellor V Geethalakshmi felicitated the research team which developed the equipment by handing over the patent certificates to them in the presence of A Raviraj, Dean, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute and N Senthil, Dean, School of Post Graduate Studies, TNAU.
Designed with a focus on crops such as pulses and cereals, where the gap between two plants ranges from 30cm to 45cm (the narrow space classification), the equipment weeding cum earthing-up promises to improve agricultural practices.
“Mechanisation of farming has come a long way. So have ploughing and tilling machines. Harvesters too, both locally made and imported, are also being used. But weeding has been a huge problem which requires a lot of manpower,” says R Kavitha, professor and head of the department of farm machinery and power engineering.
Weeding is a daunting task, say agriculturalists, because farmers stay bent for hours at a stretch to remove weeds. While there is weeding equipment for wider-spaced crops (raised with a gap of more than 60cm), farmers are still dependent on manual labour for narrow-spaced crops, say TNAU researchers. This equipment can resolve the problem as it can be manoeuvred through narrow spaces without damaging crops.
The narrow row-spaced weeding and earthing-up equipment consist of a prime mover, ground wheel, power transmission, spading unit, and a miniature plough to do the earthing-up operation.
Earthing-up refers to the practice of creating a mound or ridge of soil around the base of a plant, which aerates the soil as well as helps suppress the growth of weeds around the plant. Creating a raised mound makes it more difficult for weed seeds to germinate and compete with the cultivated crop.
A miniature plough is attached to the spading unit for the earthing-up operation. Weeds are uprooted and chopped using a trapezium-shaped blade.
TNAU vice-chancellor V Geethalakshmi felicitated the research team which developed the equipment by handing over the patent certificates to them in the presence of A Raviraj, Dean, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute and N Senthil, Dean, School of Post Graduate Studies, TNAU.