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Wheel Weeders
Mechanical Weed Control
Weed competition causes greater reductions in crop yield potential than any other single factor. Small scale farmers world wide suffer the same problem. They attempt to control the weeds with tools, often designed for some other purpose, which operate very slowly and often loosen the soil thus creating conditions for valuable moisture loss.
The burden of this work falls on women and young persons who already have a heavy workload.
The more advanced the stage of the weed the greater the energy needed to loosen or cut it. Farmers tend to wait until many weeds have germinated before controlling them but as the rates of work are low many hours or days are needed to complete the work. Many weeds will have already affected the potential yield as some crops, such as maize, are affected by weed competition when only 10 cm high.
The wheel weeder is an attempt to overcome the limitations of existing tools for crops grown in rows and, under good conditions, it has a good performance but more development work is needed.
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