Abstract
Weeds constitute a serious problem to wheat crops and cause a great loss to the yield. Manual weeding is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Chemical weed control has a negative impact on both the environment and humans. Today the agricultural sector requires non-chemical weed control that safeguards consumers demand for high quality food products and pay special attention to food safety. The objectives of the study was to evaluate the performance of an-engine operated weeder by evaluating the weeding efficiency, plant damage, effective field capacity, field efficiency, fuel consumption, performance index, energy consumption, and cost economics of engine operated weeder in wheat crop. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and evaluation was conducted at three weeder forward speeds (1.5, 2, and 2.5 km/hr), two depths of operation (from 0 to 20 and from 0 to 40 mm), and three levels of soil moisture content (9.4, 12.34 and 15.25%). The performance of the weeder was found to be optimum at 15.25 percent soil moisture content with 0 to 40 mm depth of operation at a forward speed of 1.5 km/hr. The results revealed that maximum weeding efficiency of 90.1 percent was obtained with lower plant damage of 3.31 percent whereas the effective field capacity, field efficiency, fuel consumption, performance index, and energy consumption were found to be 0.052 ha/hr, 85.99%, 0.41 l/hr, 276.78 ha/hp, and 481.71 MJ/ha, respectively. The analysis revealed that forward speed, depth of operation, and soil moisture had significant effects on weeding efficiency, plant damage, effective field capacity, and fuel consumption at P<0.05 level of significance. The cost of weeding per hectare were 758 and 1920 ETB/ha for engine-operated weeders and traditional weeding methods, respectively. Based on the performance results, it can be concluded that the weeding machine is efficient, effective, and economically viable option with high scope for acceptability among small and medium scale farmers. Keywords: Cost of weeding, Energy consumption, field efficiency, plant damage, Performance, Weeding efficiency DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/13-2-01 Publication date: March 31 st 2023
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
The weeder performed optimally at 15.25% soil moisture, 0 to 40 mm depth, and 1.5 km/hr speed.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume1 - Outcome
- optimume0
- Value
- 15.25 percente0
- Qualifier
- 0 to 40 mm depth of operation at a forward speed of 1.5 km/hre0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“optimum at 15.25 percent soil moisture content with 0 to 40 mm depth of operation at a forward speed of 1.5 km/hr”
e1“wheat crops”
Claim · model-written summary
Maximum weeding efficiency was 90.1 percent.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume1
- Outcome
- weeding efficiencye0
- Direction
- maximume0
- Value
- 90.1 percente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“maximum weeding efficiency of 90.1 percent was obtained with lower plant damage of 3.31 percent”
e1“wheat crops”
Claim · model-written summary
Plant damage was 3.31 percent.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume1
- Outcome
- plant damagee0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Value
- 3.31 percente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“maximum weeding efficiency of 90.1 percent was obtained with lower plant damage of 3.31 percent”
e1“wheat crops”
Claim · model-written summary
Forward speed, depth, and soil moisture significantly affected weeding efficiency and plant damage.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume1
- Treatment
- forward speed, depth of operation, and soil moisturee0
- Outcome
- weeding efficiency, plant damagee0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“forward speed, depth of operation, and soil moisture had significant effects on weeding efficiency, plant damage, effective field capacity, and fuel consumption at P<0.05 level of significance”
e1“wheat crops”
Claim · model-written summary
Engine weeding cost 758 ETB/ha versus 1920 ETB/ha for traditional weeding.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume1
- Outcome
- cost of weeding per hectaree0
- Value
- 758e0
- Qualifier
- 1920 ETB/hae0
- Comparator
- traditional weeding methodse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“cost of weeding per hectare were 758 and 1920 ETB/ha for engine-operated weeders and traditional weeding methods, respectively”
e1“wheat crops”