Sutan Ahmmed
Senior Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Post harvest Process Engineering Division
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Gazipur-1701
K C Roy
Chief Scientific Officer
Farm Machinery and Post harvest Process Engineering Division
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Gazipur-1701
M A Satter
Direcor (Training and Communication)
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
Gazipur-1701
Paddy and wheat are two major cereal crops in Bangladesh. To make the wheat and rice cultivation profitable through increased production and minimize turn around time the labour productivity should be increased through adoption of improved agricultural tools and machinery. At present the total production of paddy and wheat are about 27.00 million-ton. Almost the whole amount of these crops is harvested by traditional method, which is laborious and time consuming. To solve this problem, power tiller (PT) mounted reaper has been modified and tested for harvesting wheat and the performance was satisfactory. The effective field capacity of the reaper was 0.20 ha/hr with a harvesting cost of Tk.515 per ha. Specification and performance of power tiller mounted reaper for paddy and wheat.
Paddy, power tiller, field capacity, reaper, wheat
Farm Mechanization
1. Modify the power tiller mounted reaper
2. Test the performance of the reaper for harvesting paddy and wheat
Modification:
The power tiller mounted reaper was modified in the FMPE Division BARI in 2002-03. Then the performance of the reaper was tested for harvesting of paddy and wheat. Based on the test results the following modifications were further made.
(a) Cutter bar guides were fabricated and properly fitted with frame
(b) Cutter bar knives were fixed on a newly made plate for frictionless operation
(c) Power transmission system of the reaper was modified and a provision was made to stop the cutter bar speed in the off road conditions.
The different common materials used in the fabrication of the reaper were 1) M.S. angle bar 2) M.S. sheet, 3) M.S. shaft 4) M.S. rod 5) M.S. flat bar 6) cutter bar 7) plastic star wheel, 8) fibre belt with lugs 9) bevel gear 10) crop divider 11) M.S. nut-bolts, etc.
Field performance test:
The field performance test of the reaper was conducted in the wheat field of FMPE division and WRC field at BARI. The operating accuracy, field capacity and field efficiency were very satisfactory. Specification and performance of power tiller mounted reaper for paddy and wheat.
Research Report
Reaper performance was very satisfactory for harvesting wheat. The effective field capacity of the reaper was 0.20 ha/hr with a harvesting cost of Tk.515 per ha. After necessary improvement of this reaper will be tested at different location in the coming season.
Report/Proceedings