Performance of the USHA weeder

in rice and other in crops in Nepal.

Ram Bahadur Khadka

Scientist

Nepal Agricultural Research Council

(NARC)

Nepal

Mountain: 3000-8,848 masl,

Cover 35 %land area,

2% of this land cultivable.

Area: 14.7 million hectares (147,181 sq.km) 93rd in the world

Water: 2.8%

Population: 26.6 million 2011 Population growth rate; 1.4 (2011)

Density: 199.3/km2, 62nd

Population below poverty line: 25.16% (2011)

Hill: 800-2,400 masl,

Covers 43 % land area,

One-tenth of it is cultivable.

Terai: 60-300 masl,

23 % land area,

Nearly half of it is cultivable.

Agricultural Scenario

Dominated by subsistence and small holder agriculture

Agriculture contributed 36% GDP

Rice based and maize based cropping system are dominated in terai and hills respectively

Cattle, buffalo and goat and poultry are major livestock

Diversity in agriculture due to variation of agri-ecological diversity

Land holding

4.03

3.18 3.2 3.27

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Mountain Hill Terai Total

Av. Holding size, ha

Av. No of parcel / holding

Average size of parcel, hac

Area, production & productivity of cereal

crops, 2010/2011

2981

2281 2275

1122 1063858

2477

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

Yie

ld(h

a)

Are

a(h

a),

Pro

du

cti

on

(Mt)

Th

ou

san

ds

Area(ha)

Prodcution(mt.

Yield (Kg/ha)

Agricultural work in gender perspective (Crop

intensive pocket area in percentage)

0

64 6461

32

58

44

32

17

94

32 3336

64

38

53

65

80

6 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Female

Male

Children

Farm Power Availability

Mechanical

Power23%

Animal Power41%

Human

Power36%

Farm Pwer Availability Animate power

major source

Stationary engine,

two wheel power

tiller and 4 wheel

power tiller are

considered

The mechanical

power is

concentrated in

terai

Agricultural Mechanization in SRI Nepal

Majority by animal power

Only 25% of farmers use

iron plough

In Nepal 8% use tractor

and in terai 18%

Most of the tractor use

cultivator

Custom hiring of tractor is

common

Power tiller and mini

power is getting popular

Tillage

Rice is manually

transplanted

Wheat is board casted

and seed cum fertilizers

are also using

Maize & vegetable

seeds is dibbled

More than 64% is

performed by women

Planting and seeding

Inter-culture Operation

Rice, potato maize and vegetables needs major inter culture operations

Khurpi and sickle, kuto are used

Bullock drawn local plough is also used for maize inter culture

In SRI use of cono, rotatory and twin wheel hoe weeder is getting popularity

More than 60% of inter- culture operation by women

Challenges of AM in Nepal

Small and fragmented land holding

Subsistence nature of agriculture

Poor infrastructure is major constrains of mechanization and commercialization of agriculture in Nepal

Need of easy access to credit and awareness of financial intermediaries

Need of easy access to appropriate AM technology

Weak research and development system on AM

Lack of clear cut policy and strategy on AM

Why weeding in SRI

(In perspective of Nepal)

Alternate drying and wetting promote the weed

population.

To facilitate the proper aeration in the soil which

promotes healthy growth of roots and consequently

the plant.

Enhances the utilization of biomass, soil

incorporation and decomposition

Increased yields as a result or more productive

tillers, large panicle size more number of grains per

panicle and increased grain weight.

Early development of

mechanical Weeder in SRI in

Nepal

1990s Initially wooden flakes with

iron pin were used as a weeder in

SRI

2000s: Locally fabricated

Rotatory weeder was

developed by NARC

2010s: USA weeder was

introduced for SRI and SWI

promotion in Nepal

Introduction of USHA weeder in Nepal

2009: First visit was done at 2009 by expert team to KGVK, Jharkhand and introduced 10 weeder.

2010: about 500 weederintroduced to Nepal and distributed to more than 10 districts.

2011: 500 more weederbrought

2012NARC, RARS, Khajura, introduced 15 weeders for testing on-station including twin wheel hoe and cono weeder

2013 Caritas introduced 30

weeders and distributed to

3 districts

Types of weeder

introduced

Rotatory weeder

Twin wheel hoe

SWI cono-wedeer

Advantages

Reducing woman drudgery since

hand weeding is considered as a

job of women only

Attracting young generation

towards agriculture.

Can be used in multi crop

Increasing productivity and

helping in the management of

weed biomass.

Eco-friendly and suitable for

small farmers

Cost-effective

Durable

Easy to handling

Challenges

No local suppliers

Government subsidy is

essential

Wide range of awareness

required

Not suitable for big holders

motorized weeders required

Ensure source of water is

essential for rotatory weeder

Still we required suitable

weeders for gravely soil in hilly

area

Effect of different methods of weeding in SRI in

Fresh and Dry weight of weed biomass

0.00

200.00

400.00

600.00

800.00

1000.00

1200.00Fresh wt (gm per plot)

Dry wt (gm per plot)

Wee

d b

iom

ass

2012

0.0010.0020.0030.0040.0050.0060.0070.0080.0090.00

Dry wt (gm)

Dry…

2013

Effect of different methods of weeding in SRI

2.52

3.63 3.69

4.41

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00Straw Yield (Mt. per

ha)

4.80

5.00

5.20

5.40

5.60

5.80

6.00

6.20

6.40

No

weeding

Chemical Hand

weeding

Rotatroy

weeder

Yield(Mt)

Yiel

d M

t/h

a)

2012

2013

Time saving compared to hand weeding and yield

advantage compared to herbicides

Methods of weed Control

Time saving compared to hand

weeding

Rotatory weeder (ha) 72.50%

Hand weeding (ha) 0

Herbicides 92%

Methods of weed Control Yield advantages

Rotatory weeder (ha) 21.48%

Hand weeding (ha) 1.65%

Herbicides 0%

In long run weeders are more cost effective, environmentally friendly and very suitable

for small holder farmers

Direct seeded SRI

Twin wheel hoe

SWI Cono -weeder

No suitable

technology for

upland DSRSRI

principle in rain-fed

upland rice.

Save labour, water

and time.

Relevancy of D-

SRI

SWI

Treatment Tillernumber

Numberof spikeper hill

Number ofgrains perspike

Numberof spikeper sqm

Spikelength(cm)

TGW(gm)

Productivity(Mt/ha)

Conv. 4.333 4.000 44.200 311.333 10.200 45.000 4.867SWI 31.333 30.167 58.500 367.333 15.433 56.667 7.633GM 17.833 17.083 51.350 339.333 12.817 50.833 6.250CV 24.12% 31.68% 17.30% 6.31% 11.26% 16.06% 12.08%LSD 15.110 19.014 31.202 75.184 5.069 28.684 2.653Sign. ** ** ns ns * ns **

Mustard

System of Mustard Intensification

Lentil

Different climatic condition

VffB ;'ljwf kl/of]hgf 5fkfdfMedia coverage

Weeder machines are demonstrated in 8 VDCs of Kailali

Farmer's are attracted towards rotatory weeders

Thanks for your kind attention