Improved machine for weeding fields

A new twist on an age-old approach spells trouble for weeds in lowland rice fields. IRRI researchers have now combined the basic uprooting and burying action of a traditional, pronged lowland paddy-puddlerwith a completely reconfigured design utilizing pairs of bladed, revolving cones to produce a new family of light-weight, effective, and easily fabricated rolling weeders. The range of machines (including one- and two-row models that are pushed, animal drawn or mounted on power tiller mounted units) was introduced by IRRI in 1986. Because the blades on their conical rotors penetrate only the top 3 cm of soil, the 'cono-weeders' are 'two to four times more efficient' than conventional rotary weeders. The basic one-row cono weeder mounts two conical rotors in tandem, but with opposite orientation. The two opposite rotors cause significant horizontal soil movement and deliver uniform action across their 12 cm width in a single pass of steady forward movement. A single-row, all steel weeder weighs 3.7 kg. By offsetting the rotors, the machine can effectively weed crops in row spacings between 15 and 22.5 cm. Because of only shallow soil disturbance, power requirements are also low. IRRI tests showed that a farmer using a two-row model can weed a hectare in 25-35 hours compared to 90 hours for a conventional push-pull. One row rotary weeder. The cono-weeder was consciously designed so that it can be cheap to produce and made locally by rural manufacturers using tubular frames and sheet rollers. Full sets of detailed engineering drawings are available without cost to interested menu facturers from: Cono Weeder Group IRRI P.O. Box 933 Manila Philippines Source: IPPC 'Infoletter', N° 6, June 1987A new twist on an age-old approach spells trouble for weeds in lowland rice fields. IRRI researchers have now combined the basic uprooting and burying action of a traditional, pronged lowland paddy-puddlerwith a completely reconfigured design..