Development and Performance Analysis of Low Cost Combined Harvester for Rabi Crops

Abstract

The number of farmers in India especially in Vidarbha Maharashtra is decreasing due to the continuous loss in cultivation. Harvesting technique is one of the primary reasons behind losses. Manual harvesting is dreary and tedious. To overcome this issue harvesting machines are accessible yet these are substantial and costly. Since farmers with small lands have constrained utilization and furthermore harvesting is done hardly twice or thrice in a year, so it is difficult to afford expensive machines. So, there is a need to develop a small scale and cost-efficient harvesting machine which is affordable and also evacuates the issue of manual harvesting. In the proposed research work combined harvester is manufactured and tested for wheat and rice. The examination work is on the simplicity of the harvesting operation to the small landholders for harvesting wheat and rice crops in minimum time and at a minimum operating cost in view of various factors. Experimentation results are compared with traditional manual harvesting and standard tractor harvesting regarding different parameters. Manufactured harvester found adequate with respect to time, labor and operating cost for small farm farmers.