Improving efficiency of groundnut operations through mechanization
0 likes139 views
1) Groundnut is an important crop in Odisha that is currently cultivated manually, which is labor intensive and inefficient. 2) Mechanization of groundnut operations through equipment like tillage machines, seed treaters, threshers and graders can improve efficiency by reducing labor costs and time required. 3) The document discusses various groundnut production and post-harvest mechanization equipment available and their benefits, as well as solutions to constraints for farmers in adopting mechanization.
Improving efficiency of groundnut operations through mechanization
- 1. January 2018 Improving efficiency of groundnut operations through mechanization Why introduce/popularize mechanization for groundnut production? 1. Groundnut is an important crop of Odisha, cultivated in an area of 1,84000 ha during Kharif and 3,28000 ha during rabi-summer seasons and important for livelihoods of small holder farmers 2. Shortage of labour for agricultural operation is an important challenge in entire country including Odisha 3. Groundnut is a labour intensive and post-harvest operations which includes uprooting, stripping and shelling often performed manually is highly labour intensive 4. Often farm operations are performed manually either due to a lack of information or non-availability of machines About ICRISAT: www.icrisat.org ICRISAT’s scientific information: http://EXPLOREit.icrisat.org Seed Treatment Drum Seed treatment is essential prior to sowing to improve germination percentage and avoid fungal infestation of seeds Benefits ▪▪ Enables treatment of seeds in a relatively short time with synchronized seed treatment ▪▪ This manual seed treatment drum is useful to promote seed treatment of groundnut and other crops ▪▪ Reduces time and increases efficiency of seed treatment ▪▪ Useful in large scale cultivation Primary and Secondary Tillage Equipment’s Land preparation is important to ensure fine tilt that will enable uniform germination of seeds after sowing. Usually groundnut is sown on broad beds following the broad bed and furrow system. Different equipments are available for making raised beds, furrows and carrying out seed sowing. Benefits • Primary tillage equipment’s are used for preparation of field for sowing whereas secondary tillage equipment’s are used for inter cultivation to control weeds and improve soil aeration and structure • Enables to save much time required for field preparation through traditional methods. • Very useful and necessary for intensive cropping system Fig 2a. Bed Maker Fig 2b. Furrow Opener Fig 2c. Groundnut Seed Drill Fig 2d. Inter-cultivator Dry Plant Thresher Benefits • The sun dried plants can be directly stripped using these threshers • Stripping of pods can be completed in a relatively short time • Farmers are given three different choices for threshers, a) Tractor drawn thresher for large scale producers (Fig 1a); b) Petrol engine threshers for medium scale producers (Fig 1b); c) Petrol engine individual plant thresher for small scale groundnut producers (Fig 1c) Efficiency • Manually 20 labour are required to separate pods from plants which cost Rs 5000 per acre, using dry plant thresher same work can be done in 2 hrs @Rs 2000 per acre • Petrol engine drawn individual plant thresher are specially designed by ICRISAT, Patancheru for small scale groundnut producers to reduce labour cost Fig 3a. Tractor drawn thresher Fig 3b. Petrol engine bulk thresher Fig 3c. Petrol engine individual plant thresher Large and small scale Pod and Seed Grader The pods after harvesting must be separated from crop residues and immature pods to ensure that only good and uniform quality pods are used for storage. Different graders are available in the market that can be used for this purpose Benefits • Immature pods, crop residues and soil particles are separate out from a pod lot and best quality fully matured pods are graded • Seed grader is useful to sort out seeds based on size to enhance market value • Especially useful in large scale groundnut production areas to maintain pod uniformity • Small scale pod and seed grader will be useful and affordable for marginal farmers whereas large scale graders will be used by traders Fig 4c. Seed graderFig 4b. Medium scale pod graderFig 4a. Large scale pod grader Sheller’s Sheller’s are useful for separating seeds from pods. The seeds can then be stored for next season sowing after grading or for selling in the local market. Benefits • Enables shelling of pods in a relatively short time • Sheller’s are available in different size and capacity. Machine operated sheller’s are useful for moderate to large scale shelling whereas manual sheller will be useful for shelling for domestic consumption • Reduces the cost of labour and time as compared to manual shelling Major constraints in mechanization and their solutions • Maintenance of the machine: Farmers need to be trained to use the machine. Organizations such Farmer’s group or Farmers Participatory Organizations (FPOs) can be formed to ensure that the machine remains in a workable condition • Purchasing the machine: Money can be a constraint. However, proper knowledge and information on government subsidies for purchase of machines by farmers needs to be disseminated. Custom hiring can be promoted for timely availability of farm machineries on rent basis • Knowledge and awareness: Farmers should be informed about the benefits of mechanization and how it can be useful to enhance their farm incomes. • Policies: Enabling policies that simplify the process of subsidies Acknowledgements We are thankful to Government of Odisha and RKVY cell for providing funding for the project Benefits of mechanization • Timely operation as dependence on labour is reduced • Economical, cutting down cost of operations • Reducing the time required for different operations • Improving the efficiency • Enhancing the market value • Attract youth to farming and farm-enterprises Land Preparation Seed Treatment Sowing Interculture Spraying Stripping Pod Cleaning and Grading Shelling