Presentation at the Workshop on Crop Production Equipment for the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Presenter: Ram B. Khadka, Nepal Agricultural Research Council Title: Performance of the USHA Weeder in Rice and Other Crops in Nepal Date: November 1, 2014 Venue: ACISAI, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

1. Performance of the USHA weeder
in rice and other in crops in Nepal.
Ram Bahadur Khadka
Scientist
Nepal Agricultural Research Council
(NARC)

2. Nepal
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)
Mountain: 3000-8,848 masl,
Cover 35 %land area,
2% of this land cultivable.
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.

3. 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

4. Land holding
4.03
Av. Holding size, ha
Av. No of parcel / holding
Average size of parcel, hac
3.18 3.2 3.27
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Mountain Hill Terai Total

5. Area, production & productivity of cereal
crops, 2010/2011
2981
2281 2275
1122 1063
858
2477
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Yield(ha)
Area(ha), Production(Mt)
Thousands
Area(ha)
Prodcution(mt.
Yield (Kg/ha)

6. Agricultural work in gender perspective (Crop
intensive pocket area in percentage)
0
64 64
61
32
58
44
32
17
94
32 33
36
64
38
53
65
80
6 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 3
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Female
Male
Children

7. Farm Power Availability
Farm Pwer Availability Animate power
Mecha
nical
Power
23%
Animal
Power
41%
Huma
n
Power
36%
major source
Stationary engine,
two wheel power
tiller and 4 wheel
power tiller are
considered
The mechanical
power is
concentrated in
terai

8. Agricultural Mechanization in SRI Nepal
Tillage
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
Planting and seeding
 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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 weeder
introduced to Nepal and
distributed to more than 10
districts.
2011: 500 more weeder
brought
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

14. Types of weeder
introduced
Rotatory weeder
Twin wheel hoe
SWI cono-wedeer

15. 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

16. 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

17. Effect of different methods of weeding in SRI in
Fresh and Dry weight of weed biomass
1200.00
1000.00
800.00
600.00
400.00
200.00
0.00
Fresh wt (gm per plot)
Dry wt (gm per plot)
Weed biomass
2012
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
Dry wt (gm)
Dry…
2013

18. Effect of different methods of weeding in SRI
2.52
3.63 3.69
4.41
9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
Straw Yield (Mt. per
ha)
6.40
6.20
6.00
5.80
5.60
5.40
5.20
5.00
4.80
No
weeding
Chemical Hand
weeding
Rotatroy
weeder
Yield(Mt)
Yield Mt/ha)
2012
2013

19. 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

20. Direct seeded SRI
Twin wheel hoe
SWI Cono -weeder
Relevancy of D-SRI
 No suitable
technology for
upland DSRSRI
principle in rain-fed
upland rice.
 Save labour, water
and time.

21. SWI
Treatment Tiller
numbe
r
Number
of spike
per hill
Number of
grains per
spike
Number
of spike
per sq
m
Spike
length
(cm)
TGW
(gm)
Productivity
(Mt/ha)
Conv. 4.333 4.000 44.200 311.333 10.200 45.000 4.867
SWI 31.333 30.167 58.500 367.333 15.433 56.667 7.633
GM 17.833 17.083 51.350 339.333 12.817 50.833 6.250
CV 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 2.653
Sign. ** ** ns ns * ns **

22. Mustard
System of Mustard
Intensification

23. Lentil

24. Different climatic
condition

25. VffB ;'ljwf kl/of]hgf 5fkfdf
Media coverage
Weeder machines are
demonstrated in 8 VDCs of
Kailali
Farmer's are attracted towards
rotatory weeders

26. Thanks for your kind
attention