Women constitute almost half of the work force engaged in agriculture. Many agricultural operations and household<br />activities performed by women involve a lot of physical strain, which create serious health problems in the long run.<br />Hence, a study was conducted to assess the efficiency of improved tools designed for farm women viz. tubular maize<br />sheller, hanging type double screen grain cleaner (hanging sieve), groundnut decorticator, manual twin wheel hoe<br />and serrated sickle over conventional one. Twenty farmwomen were selected for the study. Tubular maize sheller<br />shelled maize cob 25.8kg/hr. Hanging sieve showed decreased cardiac cost of worker (8.41 beats/ kg) when<br />compared with local sieve. Groundnut decorticator on output basis increased to the extent of 10 fold over hand<br />shelling. Wheel hoe saved 40.9 per cent cardiac cost of worker and the weed intensity was also found to reduce by<br />33.8 per cent. 21 per cent of working efficiency increased by using serrated sickle. The results help them to choose<br />appropriate tools during agricultural operations to save time, energy and reduce drudgery.

Keyword: Tubular maize sheller; Groundnut decorticator; Manual twin wheel hoe; Serrated sickle; Hanging type double screen grain cleaner.