Modification of Portable Power Tiller for Small Scale Weeding Operation

Abstract

Weeds are unwanted and undesirable plant that interfere with the utilization of land and water resources and adversely affect crop production. After preliminary study, it was found out that power tiller could be adopted for weeding. Therefore, the study aimed at improving its performance through modification of some major component such as: weeding blades and depth gauge.  Three sets of pairs of blade gang of four, six and eight were made from 3 mm mild steel sheet metal. The fabrication was carried out at the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The modified machine was evaluated based on weeding efficiency, field capacity, Plant Damage and Fuel consumption in the maize field during 2017/2018 irrigation season at Institute for Agricultural Research, IAR, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria research farm. Four levels of blade types ‘B’ and three levels of weeding depth ‘D’ were considered. The field was laid in a 4×3 Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) at two (2) Weeks After Sowing (2WAS). DMRT was used for mean separation ran in SAS package. The results showed effects of blade types and weeding depth were significant on the weeding performance of the machine.