Opportunities for Improved Mechanical Weed Management in India

Chethan, C. R., Manjunath, K., Sreekanth, D., Pawar, D. V.1, Dubey, R. P., Singh, P. K, Mishra, J. S.

Keywords:

mechanical weed management, mechanical weeding tools, mechanized farming

Abstract:

India is an agricultural country, with more than 40% of its population engaged in agriculture and allied sectors. About 62.9% of the people involved in agriculture-related activities are females, who perform the majority of the most arduous activities. Most of these operations are time-consuming drudgeries that require much energy. Weeds are one of the significant constraints in crop production in India and can cause up to 37% of yield losses. Timely weed management is essential to reduce crop-weed competition, especially during critical periods, to ensure the quantity and quality of the produce. In India, most farmers (more than 86%) are smallholders and farm on fragmented and marginal lands with low-cost production methods. Most still rely mainly on hand weeding with simple, traditional tools for weed management in all major crops. Manual weeding is one of the most tedious and laborious jobs in agriculture. It has been estimated to consume up to 25% of the total labour requirement in agricultural production. The use of traditional tools still results in the loss of 10-15% of crop productivity in Indian agriculture. India has an estimated farm power availability of 3.045 kW/ha and weed management mechanization of around 32% across all crops. Our review finds that the adoption of mechanical weeders in India is greatly hindered by smaller land holdings, farmers’ economic conditions, high initial cost of machines, high repair and maintenance costs, and non-availability of weeders and repair services at the village level. Other significant obstacles are inadequate awareness of advanced weed management technologies, cropping systems, and patterns. However, in our view, based on literature and research experience across many regions in India and crops, improved mechanized weed management practices could save one-third of the weed management costs. Therefore, in Indian agriculture, there is tremendous scope for increasing the mechanization level of weed management, focusing on input use efficiency and sharing available tools and equipment at the village level. Increased mechanization would improve farming net profits and reduce the drudgery of labour-intensive field operations. A critical requirement is the further development of low-cost, ergo-refined weeders, which are suitable for small and marginal land holding sizes. This review finds the Government of India’s scheme “Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)” as providing a fresh, single window for improving the mechanization of weed management in India through more innovative designs.