~ 53 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2020; Sp 9(3): 53-56 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 www.phytojournal.com JPP 2020; Sp 9(3): 53-56 Received: 06-04-2020 Accepted: 10-05-2020 Nidhi Kumari1 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Muzaffarpur (Additional), Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, India Prabhat Kumar Singh MSSSoA, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi, Odisha, India Pushpa Singh Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Muzaffarpur (Additional), Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, India Corresponding Author: Prabhat Kumar Singh MSSSoA, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi, Odisha, India Promotion of mini power tiller among marginal and small farmers Nidhi Kumari, Prabhat Kumar Singh and Pushpa Singh Abstract The present study has been conducted at Sakra and Muraul block of Muzaffarpur district of Bihar with objective to incorporate mini power tiller equipped with cultivator, ridge maker and potato digger among marginal and small land holding farmers. Use of mini power tiller reduced the cost and time of operations as compare to human and bullock pair involvement in farm activities. In compare to human, total cost saving for ploughing, ridge making and potato digging by mini power tiller was observed 97.76%, 93.59% and 97.44% respectively whereas, it was 24% (ploughing), 56.38% (ridge making) and 51.19% (potato digging) as compare to bullock pair. So, it can be suggested that low cost mini power tiller is a great alternative of high cost tractor and high time-consuming human and bullock drawn farm activities for small and marginal farmers. Keywords: Mini power tiller, cultivator, ridge maker and potato digger Introduction Bihar is second largest populated state of India. The population density of Bihar is 1106 per square kilometre (Census of India, 2011) [1] . Whereas, the population density of Muzaffarpur district is 1506 per square kilometre (Census of India, 2011) [1] . Agriculture is the key source to overall development of the state economy. Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar’s economy, since it comprises 77% of workforce and generating nearly 24.84% of the state domestic product. The percentage of population employed in agriculture production system in Bihar is estimated to 77% which is much higher than national average (Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Bihar, 2011-12). Agriculture is the vital source of wealth in the state. The cropping intensity of the state is 138%. About 78% of the farmers possess an area less than 2 hectare with poor resources at their command, especially in the dry land regions (Vatsa, 2013) [16] . Annually three seasons of cropping requires efficient farm mechanization but high cost of bigger implements limited to only large farmers. Power tillers occasionally termed as walking tractors have been conceived as an equipment to prepare seedbeds with rotary tillers and for transportation. They have limitations in their use for traction work due to the low drawbar power per brake horsepower of the engine. At present, most of the power tiller manufactured in the country are in the range of 8-10 hp and weigh about 400 kg. The power tillers are not potentially used in hilly areas due to the lack of its manoeuvrability on sloppy lands. This is primarily due to its heavy weight, which needs to be optimized (Mandal and Maity, 2013) [14] . It is also known as hand or walking type tractor (BIS, 2002). The initial introduction of power tillers was without a complete range of matching equipment (Kathirvel et al., 2000) [11] . The structure of small tractors is simple and this makes the operation, maintenance and repair easy (Ademiluyi et al., 2008) [1] . Light weight power tillers can be used for seedbed preparation and inter culture operation in wide spaced row crops like cotton and sugarcane. Some pull type light weight power tillers are also available in the country to pull ploughs, harrows and cultivators (Narang and Tiwari, 2005) [15] . Therefore, it is felt necessary to develop a lightweight power tiller fitted with 2-4 hp engines. Considering all these factors, and as a small effort towards mechanizing agriculture and helping the 60% Indian population who depend on agriculture for their livelihood and to encourage their share in developing our economy (Kadu et al., 2015) [9] . The average field efficiency and average fuel consumption of lightweight power tillers was found as 93.77% and 0.85 l/hr (Mandal et al., 2016) [14] . The light weight of power tiller is a favourable factor for working in wet and dry land conditions (Kumar and Kumar 2018) [12] . As increasing the traction and torque for tilling process achieving by depth of 4-7 inch in Mini cultivator and tiller. (Karjatwala et al., 2018) [10] . The trials were conducted to test a 7.46 kW light weight power tiller to evaluate parameters like drawbar pull, fuel consumption and wheel slip (Anonymous, 2001a) [5] .