Cut and Bury: Motorized weeders for rice production

Effortless Weed Control for Bountiful Harvests

Motorized weeders for rice production are innovative machines designed to efficiently clear weeds from rice fields, significantly reducing labor requirements and costs. These compact units, typically propelled by small petrol motors, can clear one hectare of paddy fields in a fraction of the time it would take manually. They are designed to minimize disturbance to rice crops and soil while uprooting, cutting, and burying weeds. The importance of this technology lies in its capacity to enhance weed control, increase rice grain production, and reduce the need for additional irrigation and fertilizer. It offers a practical and cost-effective solution for smallholder farmers, ultimately contributing to improved food security and economic well-being.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive medium

Women: Positive medium

Climate adaptability: Moderately adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Same amount of water used

Problem

Inadequate Weed Control: High weed infestation remains a major production constraint for smallholder rice farmers where effective weed management is limited.
Labor-Intensive Weeding: Dependence on manual weed removal places substantial labor, time, and cost demands on smallholder rice farmers.
Yield and Economic Losses: Poor weed management reduces rice yields and farm production, contributing to substantial economic losses across rice-growing communities.

Solution

Accessible Mechanized Weed Control: Small motorized weeders provide an effective mechanical weed-control option suitable for both subsistence and commercial rice farmers.
Reduced Labor Burden: Motorized weeding substantially reduces the labor and time required for weed management compared with manual clearing.
Improved Farm Productivity: Faster and more effective weed control reduces weed competition and supports increased rice production and quality among rice farmers.

Key points to design your program

Motorized Weeders for Rice Production improve weed management, reduce labor requirements, and increase rice productivity for smallholder farmers. The technology can be integrated into rice development, food security, mechanization, climate resilience, women’s economic empowerment, and youth employment programs. Its adoption contributes to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess weed management challenges, labor constraints, and rice production systems in target areas.
Facilitate access to motorized weeders and related field equipment adapted to local rice farming conditions.
Support training for farmers, cooperatives, women’s groups, and youth enterprises on machine operation, maintenance, safe use, and integrated weed management.
Invest in access to fuel, spare parts, repair services, and shared mechanization systems to ensure sustainable and affordable use.
Promote timely and efficient weed control to improve rice yields, grain quality, and efficient use of fertilizer and irrigation inputs.
Support the participation of women and youth in mechanization service businesses to reduce labor burdens and create employment opportunities.
Establish partnerships with AfricaRice, rice cooperatives, extension services, mechanization providers, and financial institutions to support scaling and sustainability.
Track key indicators such as weeding time, labor costs, rice yields, herbicide use, number of farmers reached, and income improvements.

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Democratic Republic of the Congo	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Madagascar	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Mozambique	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid	–	–	–	–
Semiarid	–	–
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Using motorized weeders for rice production (cut and bury) involves several key steps:

Proper Rice Spacing: Ensure that rice crops are planted in even rows with a spacing of more than 20 cm. This allows for easy maneuvering of the motorized weeders and prevents damage to the crop.
Assess Weed Encroachment: Depending on the level of weed encroachment and the rate of canopy growth, determine how many times the rotary power units need to be used for effective weed control.
Operate Motorized Weeders: This process can be done by one person, especially on waterlogged fields, but for larger areas, two or more workers may be required.
Integrated Pest Management: Consider the use of common herbicides, pesticides, and biological control measures alongside motorized weeding units to create integrated crop protection strategies that enhance yield potentials.
Collective Purchase and Sharing: To make this technology accessible to low-income rice-growing communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, encourage collective purchase and shared use of motorized weeders. Private agricultural service contractors can also be engaged to scale the technology.