DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SINGLE ROW WEEDER

Abstract

There has been a considerable loss in agricultural production due to weed occurrence and its competition with the crop for water, nutrient, and light. A single row weeder was developed and evaluated at Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State. It was designed to remove and uproot weeds around the crop planted on flat soil. The weeding mechanism consists of a drum lined with cutting blades that rotate with drum driven by 5 Hp gasoline engine. The weeder was evaluated at five different speeds and three different moisture contents (30.70 %, 26.30 %, and 21 %). Generally, there was an initial increase in machine efficiency as speed increases from 1800 rpm to 3510 rpm under the varying speeds selected up to a 3510 rpm and thereafter, the efficiency recedes. This was particularly observed when the machine was operated on soil with soil moisture content ranges from 30.7 % to 26.3 %. At 30.7% moisture content, maximum machine efficiency was obtained at 3510 rpm, while at 26.3 % moisture content the peak weeding efficiency was obtained at a reduced speed of 2200 rpm. This observation could significantly save fuel use for the weeding operation over a wide range of land. In addition, working at lower soil moisture content must have improved work-ability of the weeder on the soil. The moderate force would be exerted by the weeder to perform its operation optimally. However, further reduction of the moisture content from 26.3 % to 21.0 % resulted to requirement of higher speed 2400 rpm to obtain the maximum machine efficiency. This higher power requirement may have been caused by soil aggregate binding at the superficial layer of the soil, thus holding the roots of weeds firmly with the soil. This in effect would mean that more shearing force would be required to break the soil in order to remove weeds.