Farmer’s Weeding Innovation

Ashok Jadhav, an organic farmer from  Maharashtra, built a ‘jugaad’ device which made weeding very easy for farmers.

The organic farming involves using abundant natural fertilisers, which leads to unwanted weed growth. These weeds consume the nutrient of the soil and affect plant growth.

Old Solution

To solve this issue, Ashok started using weedicide on the farm. “Though it was an effective solution, the chemicals defeated the purpose of growing food organically. Moreover, it started deteriorating the soil quality. We needed a healthier solution for the soil,” he says, adding that he began hiring labour for the task.

“However, labour costs were high, and I could not afford to spend Rs 20,000 on labourers that I occasionally needed,” he explains.

A Solution For Just Rs 400

Ashok says that it was then that he started thinking of innovative ideas to address the problem. “I reached out to agriculture experts from the government department and created a bicycle weeder that would cut the weeds along the side of the crops. The wheels had blades attached to them, which removed the weeds. But it did not remove the weeds growing between the crops,” he adds

In 2018, I decided to experiment with a makeshift solution. I took two iron rods, bent them at each of their ends and attached a thin metal wire of 8-10 inches in between, joining the two rods with a metal pipe as a handle,” Ashok says. The device requires manually pulling out the weeds, and the metal wire cuts them by the root.

The tool worked and made it accessible to remove the weeds in congested crops and minor gaps. However, the metal wire broke due to the tension of the weeds or because of its thick stems. “At times, the wire lost the tension between the metal rods and hurt the hand and shoulders,” he says

Over the next two years, Ashok made multiple changes to the device. “I improved the angle to bend the iron rods, and fitted a metal piece to support the cutting wires. I learned that a 7-inch metal wire served the best in terms of efficiency and performance. The thin metal wires were replaced with used cable wires from two-wheeler brakes,” he says, adding that his previous experience of working as a machinist came in handy during the process.

To make the tool lighter, he replaced the metal handle with bamboo. “It helped to overcome the shortcomings to a huge extent. Earlier, it required 10 labourers to work the entire day on one-acre of land, which cost Rs 3,000 per day. But now the same work can be done by a single person in two days for around Rs 300,” he says.