A study on selected farm tools and implement was conducted at research farm of ICAR–CIAE, Bhopal during rabi season 2025-26 for sowing, interculturing and harvesting operation of chickpea crop using a manual seed-cum-fertilizer drill, CIAE twin wheel hoe, and serrated sickle, respectively on 10 farm women workers to assess the physiological work load based on heart rate data. Sowing imposed the highest physiological workload, with a mean working heart rate of 126 beats min–¹, work pulse of 40 beats min–¹, oxygen consumption rate of 0.75 L min–¹, and energy expenditure rate of 15.74 kJ min–¹. Interculture exhibited a comparatively moderate physiological workload, with corresponding values of 122 beats min–¹, 35 beats min–¹, 0.80 L min–¹, and 14.81 kJ min–¹, respectively. Harvesting resulted in the highest postural stress, with a mean working heart rate of 123.22 beats min–¹, work pulse of 39.21 beats min–¹, oxygen consumption rate of 0.72 L min–¹. The perceived exertion assessment revealed that repetitive body movements and
continuous tool handling contributed to worker discomfort, with mean BPDS and ODR values of 33.43 and 3.37 during sowing, 30.93 and 2.90 during interculture, and 26.27 and 2.90 during harvesting. Postural evaluation indicated moderate ergonomic risk across all operations, with mean RULA and REBA scores of 4.13 and 6.63 for sowing, 4.13 and 6.83 for interculture, and 4.93 and 7.70 for harvesting. The area covered with manual seed-cum-fertilizer drill was 509 m² h–¹ whereas it was 177 m² h–¹ with CIAE twin wheel hoe and 59 m² h–¹ with serrated sickle. The ergonomic evaluation demonstrated that sowing imposed the highest physiological workload, whereas harvesting posed the greatest postural risk among the selected chickpea cultivation operations. The CIAE twin wheel hoe exhibited superior field performance with reduced labour requirement and operational cost.