Ergonomical Evaluation of Power Weeder in Wetland Paddy Condition

Abstract

Weed is a crop which is grown along with the main crop and competes for sunlight, food, water and space. Weeding is very tedious operation as compared to all other agriculture operations. Most parts of the country weeding operation is being done by manual methods and also by mechanical methods. Drudgery involved in weeding operation increases stress on worker causing increase in heart rate and oxygen consumption. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the agronomical evaluation of power weeder. The heart rate and oxygen consumption rate of operator was varied from 131.0 to 145.5 beats/min and 0.80 to 0.98 l/min, respectively. The energy expenditure rate of operator ranged from 4.01 to 4.90 kcal/min.

Desain dan Analisis Frekuensi Natural Rangka Mesin Penyiang Gulma Menggunakan Metode Finite Element Analysis

“…Every three months, when the rice plants reach the ages of 15 days and 30 days, weed control is done twice in paddy fields. Weeds are plants that coexist with other plants and compete with them for resources like sunshine, food, water, and space (Upendar et al, 2018). Farmers use 30% of the expenditures allocated for managing paddy fields to control weeds (Pandey et al, 2019).…”

“…Currently, there are four different approaches to controlling weeds: manually, mechanically, chemically, and biologically (Upendar et al, 2018). The manual control approach faces many challenges, such as the time and labour requirements that it entails (K.T., 2019).…”