WELCOME

Performance Evaluation of Intermittent Reaper and Development of a New Reaper

Supervisor

Prof. Md. Ruhul Amin Hon’ble Vice-chancellor,

HSTU, Dinajpur.

Co-SupervisorProf. Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin SarkerDept. of Agricultural and Industrial

Engineering

Project Title

Presenter

RAMANI KANTA BARMANStudent ID. 1107049Session: 2011

MD. MAKSUDUR RAHMANStudent ID. 1107076Session: 2011

MD. ABU AYUB SIDDIQUEStudent ID. 1107064Session: 2011

INTRODUCTION

Rice is one of the leading cereal crops in the world.

Annual production of rice was 749.1 million tones with 154 million hectares of

cultivable lands under the 113 countries in the world (FAO, 2015).

About 12.25 million hectares were under the cultivation of rice in Bangladesh

that was 88% of the gross cropped land of the country (BBS, 2014).

In Bangladesh, traditional harvesting is done by labors with sickle

Laborious,

Costly

Time consuming and

Greater post-harvest losses

So, suitable machinery specially for harvesting machinery is crying need to

develop and introduce for mechanization.

Sl. No. Name of the machines Quantity

01. Power tiller 3,50,000

02. Tractor 40,000

03. Seeder 2,000

04. Weeder 2,00,000

05. Fertilizer applicator 8,500

06. Sprayer 12,50,000

07. Reaper 50

08. Combine harvester 100

09. Power thresher 2,00,000

10. Maize seller 2,000

11. Winnower 200

Present status of farm machinery used in crop production (IFDC, 2013)

07. Reaper 50

Types of Reaper

1. Power tiller

2. Self-propelledManufacturers and Dealers of Reaper

1. ACI

2. ALIM Industries Ltd.

3. Solar vision

4. BARI reaper

5. BAU reaper

6. Metal Industries Ltd.

55%

12%

3%

15%

3% 7%

Availability of reaper

Dhaka

Rangpur

khulna

Rajshahi

Sylhet

Barishal

The percentages of reaper in different division of Bangladesh

Figure: Percentage of reaper available in different divisions (Brishti, 2014)

Availability of reaper in different divisions of Bangladesh (Brishti, 2014)

Dhaka Rajshahi Khulna Barishal Sylhet Rangpur0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40Available reaper

WorkingNot Working

Objectives of the Study

The main objective was to evaluate the performance of an intermittent reaper.

Specific Objectives

In view of the above discussion, the present research work was carried out with the

following specific objectives:

• To select an intermittent reaper

• To select suitable crop and land for harvesting

• To study the performance of reaper for the selected crop

• To identify the problems and prospects of reaper in harvesting

• To analyze collected data

• To modify an intermittent reaper for easy operation

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experimental Site

The research work was carried out in the research field under Hajee Mohammad Danesh

Science and Technology University. The field experiment was carried out during Aman

season.

Materials

Figure: ACI intermittent reaper

Specification of an intermittent reaper

Engine model 1E40F

Engine type Air-cooled, 2 stroke, single cylinder petrol

Engine power 1.25kw/7000r/min(2hp)

Carburetor Diaphragm Type

Starting method Manually drawing wound rope

Fuel tank capacity (Lit) 1.2

Ratio of fuel and lubricant 30:1

Type Hand-type Harvester

Power source Petrol

circular saw blade diameter (cm) 25

Metal plate height (cm) 11

Shaft length (mm) 1670

Shaft diameter (mm) 28

Shaft thickness (mm) 2

Color red

Weight (kg) 9.2

Engine type Air-cooled, 2 stroke, single cylinder petrol

Engine power 1.25kw, 7000rpm(2hp)

Weight (kg) 9.2

7.9 m

13.1 m

Figure-1: Plot size harvested by reaper Figure-2: Plot size harvested by manually

Operation Time and Cutting Area13.1m7.9m (103.49m2) area =40 minutes (1 labour by reaper)

34m20m (680m2) area =2.3 hours (12 labours manually)

Fuel ConsumptionFuel consumption was calculated by using standard method as follows

FcWhere,

Fc = Fuel consumption (Lit./hr.) q = Quantity of fuel consumed (Lit.) t = Consumption time (min)

Effective Field Capacity By using the following formula field capacity and field efficiency were calculated

CWhere,

C = field capacity (ha/hr.) T = total time for the reaping operation (hr.) A= area of land reaped at specified time (ha)

Theoretical Field CapacityTheoretical field capacity, computed based on the forward speed and the cutting width of reaper.

TFCWhere,

TFC = Theoretical field capacity (ha/hr.) W = Cutting width (m) S = Operating speed (km/hr.) C = Constant, 10

Effective Field EfficiencyField efficiency is defined as the ratio of the actual field capacity and theoretical field capacity, expressed in percent

Ef ×100Where,

Ef = Field Efficiency (%) EFC = Effective field capacity (ha/hr.) TFC = Theoretical field capacity (ha/hr.)

Harvesting Cost (Fixed cost + Variable cost)Fixed cost1. Depreciation was determined by straight-line method by the following equation

DWhere,

D = Mean yearly depreciation (Tk./year) P = Purchase value (Tk.) S = Salvage value (Tk.) L = Useful life (year)

2. Interest is an actual cost in agricultural machinery and was determined by straight line method by the following equation

I×iWhere,

I = Interest on investment (Tk./yr.)

P = Purchase value (Tk.)

S = Salvage value (Tk.)

i = interest rate (%)

Fixed cost was calculated as FC = Depreciation + Interest on investment + Tax, insurance and shelter

Break-even AreaThe break-even area in which the harvesting cost per unit area is equal for machine and manual was determined by the following equation (Alizadeh et al., 2007).

BWhere, B = Break-even point (ha/year) F = Fixed cost of machine (Tk./year) Va = Variable costs of manual method (Tk./ha) Vm= Variable costs for machinery method (Tk./ha)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Field PerformanceThe field capacity ranged from 155.235 to 836.56 m 2/hr. with an average of 435.53 m 2/hr. (0.348 ha/day). The fuel consumption was recorded 0.755 litter/hr. of petrol.

Figure-1:Field operation by an intermittent reaper Figure-2: After harvesting by intermittent reaper

Performance test of intermittent reaper

Plot No.

Length(m)

Wide (m)

 

Area (m2)

Fuel consump

tion ( lit/hr)

Average fuel

consumption (lit/hr)

Field capacity (m2 /hr.)

Field capacity (ha/hr)

Average(ha/hr)

01 8.1 1.75 14.175 0.71   836.56 0.08  

02 8.1 1.3 10.53 0.82 0.755 344.62 0.04 0.05

03 8.1 1.6 12.96 0.78   405.7 0.04  

04 13.1 7.9 103.49 0.71   155.24 0.02  

0.050.755

Performance test by manually harvested plot

Plot No. Length(m)

Wide (m)

Area (m2)

Field capacity (m2/hr )

Field capacity

(ha/man hr)

Average(ha/man hr)

01 36.57 25.91 947.52 411.08 0.04  

02 34 20 680 302.22 0.03 0.0067

03 55.17 53.64 2959.10 857.71 0.09  0.0067

Harvesting CostEstimated total cost of intermittent reaper and manual harvesting

Machine harvesting cost Manual harvesting costCost items (Tk./year) (Tk./hr) (Tk./ha) (Tk./ha)

 (Tk.hr)

Fixed costDepreciation

InterestTaxes, insurance and

shelterTotal fixed cost

Variable costFuelOil

LaborRepair and maintenance

Total variable cost 

 1080792300

 2172

    

       

21.72

 

75.52.3751.2154

 

       

498

  

173353

172128

3354

 

 

Considered 32 nos. of labors required/ha

 

37.5

Total cost of harvesting   175.72 4032 9600 37.540329600Total cost of harvesting

Comparison of savings by the intermittent reaper with manually harvesting ( /ha)

Particulars Calculation Amount (Tk.)

Cost of manual harvesting (32 man days ) 32×300 9600

Cost of machine harvesting 4032 4032

Gross savings 9600−4032 5568

Cost of total output (5000 kg/ha @ 18Tk. )* 18×5000 90000

Loss in reaper harvesting, (2.3%)

9000×0.023 2070

Loss in manual harvesting (1%) 90000×0.01 900

Excess loss due to reaper harvesting 2070−900 1170

The net savings per hectare 5568−1170 4398

*Considered the production of paddy 5 tons per hectare

The net savings per hectare 4398

Comparison of time between intermittent reaper and manual harvesting

Reaper( including labor for binding and collecting) (hr./ha) 24

Manual ( hr./ha) 180

0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.50

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000 reaper

manual

Harv

estin

g co

st (T

k./h

a)

Area (ha)

Break-even Area

24180

0.40.4

CONCLUSION

The experimental results shows that Time consumption 7.5 times faster per hectare than

the manually Field capacity 11.2 times more per hectare than the

manually The net saving 4398 Tk./ha

Next research is to modify an intermittent reaper to make farmer’s friendly.