Genesis
In his farm, Ratanlal used to do weeding manually, which he felt was the most tiring and time consuming job even after improved level of mechanization and usage of tractors in farm operations. Sometime in 2012, he started thinking about developing some implement, which could be attached to a tractor. After five unsuccessful attempts over two years, he finally completed the successful prototype in 2014. His friends supported him in getting parts procured, machining done and his late uncle supported him financially.
Tractor mounted rotary weeder
This multi-row rotary weeder consists of a set of cutting blades, which penetrate into the soil and remove the weeds in the crop rows. In this weeder, an ‘I’ shaped blade is used at an angle to the drum to remove weeds easily, to elevate and pulverize the soil properly.
This weeder can be used for weeding in cotton, paddy, pulses, tomato, sugarcane, etc. as the width of inter-row rotary weeder can be changed according to the crop row spacing. The machine is suitable for both line sowing by the seed drill as well as broadcasted scattered sowing. Ratanlal extends the service of weeding on rent, as due to lack of fabrication facility in his town and nearby areas, fabrication is difficult. However, he has made one unit, which he sold about a year ago.
RatanlalYadav (61) is farmer by profession and also undertakes repairing and fabrication of agricultural machineries. The novelty in his weeder lies in the shape of the blade, which is at a certain angle to the drum resulting in easy weed removal and proper pulverisation of the soil.
Having no formal education himself, Ratanlal tried to make available whatever educational opportunities were possible in or near his village to his son and daughters. He took to farming early in his life and later also to the repair and manufacturing of agriculture machineries. He lives with his wife, children, his brothers and their families. All of them support their farm activities and the fabrication workshop.