Rotary weeder cum fertilizer drill accomplishes both the operations of weeding and fertilizer application simultaneously in a single operation. Performance of developed machine was evaluated in castor crop. Cost has been worked out as per the standard procedure and comparison made in terms of labour saving to determine the economic feasibility of the machines. It had been estimated that the break-even point (BEP) calculated on time and area basis for rotary weeder cum fertilizer drill was 273 h and 53.50 ha, respectively. The payback period calculated on time basis for the rotary weeder- cum- fertilizer drill was found to be a little over 3 years. Cost of weeding and fertilizer drilling through rotary weeder- cumfertilizer drill can save cost up to 34.22 per cent as compared to the combined cost of existing methods of weeding and fertilizer application methods.

Highlights

• The expenditure in development and fabrication of rotary weeder- cum- fertilizer drill ` 41000.
• Using the rotary weeder-cum-fertilizer drill farmer save 650 `/ha over the manual methods.
• The payback period for the rotary weeder-cum-fertilizer drill was about 3 years.