A new type of weeder suitable for both soybeans and red beans, clearing weeds from 8 fen of land in 3 hours

Weed management has always been a major obstacle in organic farming. At present, farmers growing organic soybeans mostly use cultivators to carry out inter-row cultivation and weeding in the field, but they can only handle a few tenths of a hectare per day, and when spring rain comes they often cannot compete with weed growth. In order to strengthen organic coarse grain cultivation techniques and solve the predicament of inefficient weed control in organic soybeans, the Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station has actively developed a "hitch-mounted dryland weeder," which can be applied to weeding operations in flat-bed cultivation of organic coarse grains.

Machine-assisted weeding puts organic soybean farmers at ease

Weed management has always been a major obstacle in organic farming. At present, farmers growing organic soybeans mostly use cultivators to carry out inter-row cultivation and weeding in the field, but they can only handle a few tenths of a hectare per day, and when spring rain comes they often cannot compete with weed growth. In order to strengthen organic coarse grain cultivation techniques and solve the predicament of inefficient weed control in organic soybeans, the Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station has actively developed a "hitch-mounted dryland weeder," which can be applied to weeding operations in flat-bed cultivation of organic coarse grains.

The "hitch-mounted dryland weeder" uses a riding-type operation, attaching the weeding unit behind a rice transplanter, so that multiple rows can be weeded at one time, making the work easy and time-saving. While moving forward, it completes the actions of breaking the soil, crushing the soil and raking the weeds, and drags and rolls the weeds so that the soil clumps at the weed roots are loosened and detached, achieving the purpose of weed control.

Using a rice transplanter as the field power source makes use of the advantages of its narrow wheel width and wheel spacing, reducing damage to plants when moving through the field. The machine adopts a modular design, and the weeding width is tentatively set at 60-80 cm, suitable for inter-row cultivation and weeding operations of coarse grains such as corn, soybeans and adzuki beans. The weeding row spacing, width, depth and angle are all designed to be adjustable, so operators can adjust them themselves according to crop and soil characteristics.