Naveen Sickle
It is a serrated blade sickle suitable for harvesting wheat, rice and grasses. The wooden handle has a bend at the rear for better grip and to avoid hand injury during operation. It costs Rs. 60/- and cost of operation is Rs. 2000/ha. The field capacity of sickle is 0.018 ha/h and labour requirement is 80 man-h/ha.
Power Tiller Operated Vertical Conveyor Reaper
It is a power tiller front mounted, walk behind type reaper windrower suitable for harvesting and windrowing of erect rice crop. The reaping attachment consists of cutter bar, two crop conveyor belts, crop row dividers and star wheels. The cutter bar and conveyor belts are driven by engine through belt-pulley and safety clutch. The effective field capacity is 0.16-0.20 ha/h. The unit price is Rs. 40,000/ and its cost of operation is Rs. 1400/ha.
Self-Propelled Vertical Conveyor Reaper
It is an engine operated, walk behind type harvester suitable for harvesting and windrowing cereals like wheat and paddy and oilseed crops. The reaper consists of engine, power transmission box, lugged wheels, cutter bar, crop row dividers, conveyor belts with lugs, star wheels, operator’s controls and a sturdy frame. The engine power is transmitted to cutter bar and conveyor belts through belt-pulleys. During forward motion of the reaper, crop row dividers divide the crop, which come in contact with cutter bar, where shearing of crop stems takes place. The cut crop is conveyed to one side of the machine by the conveyor belt fitted with lugs. The crop is bundled manually and transported to threshing yard. The field capacity of the machine is 0.15 – 0.17 ha/h. The cost of the machine is about Rs. 80,000. The cost of operation is Rs. 1150/ha with this machine as compared to Rs. 3200/ha by traditional method. There is a saving of 90-95% in labour and time and 63% in cost of operation as compared to conventional method.
Self-propelled Fodder Harvester (Cutter barType)
The self-propelled cutter bar type (CBT) forage harvesters are in extensive use for forage harvesting. The cutter bar is operated by a suitable engine (7.6 kW, air cooled). The cutter bar is fitted as an attachment to the reaper-binder machine. The machine is used for harvesting fodder crops like berseem and Lucerne. The width of cut is 1.2 m and height of cut is 50-100 mm for berseem crop. The field capacity of the harvester is 0.4 ha/h at forward speed of 4.00 km/h.
Self-propelled Platform Type Fruits Harvesting System
Orchard management operations like harvesting, pruning, spraying and other canopy management practices in fruit trees such as mango, citrus and sapota are difficult and labour intensive. Handpicking continues to be the only method of fruit harvesting in India. Therefore, a self-propelled hydraulic multi-purpose system has been designed and developed at ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal for medium height fruit trees to increase harvesting/pruning efficiency in orchards. It has a maximum vertical reach of 6 m, load carrying capacity of 200 kg and can be operated at maximum ground speed of 3 km/h. This machine is designed with dimensions of 2.20 × 6.32 × 1.89 m and can be used as a platform to reach fruits on trees for easy picking. This machine is hydraulically powered by 8.7 kW petrol engine. Lifting and lowering of the platform, forward and backward movement, and steering of the machine are controlled by an operator from the platform. The machine is easy to operate and requires low maintenance. It can be operated safely on flat field as well as on hilly terrain having lateral as well longitudinal slope up to 5o. The operator is able to pick up 700-1100 mangoes/h depending upon the fruit density on the tree. The approximate cost of the machine is Rs. 7.50 lakh. The fuel consumption during harvesting of mango was 2 l/h.
Tractor Front Mounted Vertical Conveyor Reaper
The machine is used for harvesting cereal crops like wheat and paddy. It consists of a 76 mm pitch reciprocating cutter bar assembly, seven crop row dividers, and two vertical conveyor belts fitted with lugs, pressure springs, pulleys and gearbox for the power transmission system. The crop row dividers are fitted in front of the cutter bar assembly and the star wheels are mounted over the crop row dividers. The machine is mounted in front of the tractor and the power to the machine is given from tractor PTO. The height of the machine above ground is controlled by tractor hydraulic system with the help of pulleys and steel ropes. After the crop is cut by the cutter bar, it is held in a vertical position and delivered to one side of the machine by lugged belt conveyors and fall on the ground perpendicular to the direction of movement of machine in the form of a windrow. The field capacity of the machine is 0.4 ha/h at 2.5-3.5 km/h forward speed. The cost of operation is about Rs. 1600/- as against Rs. 3200/ha by traditional method.
Tractor Mounted Fodder Harvester
A tractor (41 kW) operated flail type harvester-cum-chopper-cum-loader was designed to facilitate harvesting, chopping and loading operations simultaneously. The crops viz. bajra, sorghum, maize, barseem and oats with height 1.00 to 2.50 m and stalk density 20-80 plants/m² can be harvested successfully. The machine consists of a rotary shaft mounted with blades (flails) to harvest the crop, auger for conveying the cut crop, cutters for chopping and conveying chopped fodder through outlet into the trailer. The blades on the rotary shaft are staggered in three rows of 13 blades each on a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of motion. The blades cut the crop and auger conveys it to the chopper unit. The chopping mechanism having 4 blades cuts crops into pieces and the chopped material is thrown out at high speed and is filled into the hitched trailer to the machine. It also harvested lodged and over matured crop without any difficulty. The capacity of the machine is 0.20 ha/h at a forward speed of 2.5-4.0 km/h. The cost of operation of the machine is Rs. 1500/ha against Rs. 3200/ha by conventional method.