Development and Performance Evaluation of a Two-Wheeled Power-Tiller Multi-row Weeder

Purpose This study was conducted to design, construct, and test a two-wheeled power tiller multi-row weeder (MRW) for effective weed control in wheat production field and other narrow-row crops. This concept was conceived from the high cost and labour-intensive methods required for hand weeding (HW) and the restrictions in chemical weed control borne by the resource-poor smallholder farmers of South Asia. Methods An MRW was designed, fabricated, and field tested with other weeding techniques (HW using khurpi , HW using a hand spade, weeding using a Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) dry land weeder, and no weeding) at the Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute BARI centre in Gazipur during 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 wheat growing seasons. Results The results have shown that the MRW had a higher percentage of plant damage (4.3–4.6%) but also higher actual field capacity (0.12–0.14 ha/h), resulting in lower weeding cost than other weed control techniques. Hand weeding using a khurpi treatment had significantly ( p ≤ 0.05) higher weed control efficiency but had higher weeding cost and was labour-intensive (81–93%) than all other treatments, suggesting that it may not be a feasible option for smallholder farmers. Wheat grain yield was similar ( p ≤ 0.05) for all weed control methods but significantly higher than the control treatment. In spite of the higher percentage of plant damage in MRW, there was no adverse effect on achieving the desired plant population as evidenced from the grain yield data. Conclusions Results suggest good performance and significant potential of MRW but also a need for further improvement for its wider adoption by smallholder farmers in Bangladesh and South Asia.