Vol. 11, Issue 10 (2022)

Author(s):
Sowmyalatha BS, Shubhashree KS and Sahana SR

Abstract:
India is the largest producer of various kinds of millets. Out of the total minor millets produced, finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn.) (Ragi) accounts for about 85% of production in India. Traditional farming is being practiced from land preparation to post-harvest operations, where too much drudgery is involved and also due to excess involvement of labour in different farm operations the cost of production is quite high. Non-availability of labour in peak period accounts for higher expenditure with less productivity. The timeliness of operations has assumed greater significant in obtaining optimal yields from different crops, which has been possible by way of mechanization. Human drudgery can be reduced by providing farmer-friendly farm tools and equipment which increase the productivity of worker with safety and comfort. For development of low-cost technologies through mechanization in finger millet, an experiment was laid out in Mandya during Kharif 2018. The research result indicated that, Significantly higher grain yield and straw yield was recorded when sowing was taken up with tractor drawn seed drill coupled with hand weeding at 20 and 35 DAS and harvested mechanically (43.62 q/ha and 65 q/ha, respectively) which was on par with that of Sowing with tractor drawn seed drill coupled with cycle weeding and mechanical harvesting. However, significantly higher B: C Ratio of 2.24 was recorded with sowing with animal drawn seed drill coupled with cycle weeder and mechanical harvesting.