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PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SELF PROPELLED VERTICAL CONVEYOR

REAPER

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International Journal of Science, Environment ISSN 2278-3687 (O)
and Technology, Vol. 3, No 5, 2014, 1701 – 1705

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SELF PROPELLED VERTICAL

CONVEYOR REAPER
1
R.P. Murumkar, 2U.R. Dongarwar, 3P.A. Borkar, 4P.S. Pisalkar and 5D.S. Phad
1,5
Assistant Professor, 2Associate Professor, 3Associate Professor, 4Ex. SMS (Agril. Engg.)
Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola
E-mail: rajeshmurumkar@rediffmail.com, rajeshmurumkar@gmail.com

Abstract: The study was conducted on mechanized harvesting of paddy for minimizing the
cost of cultivation of paddy. A self propelled vertical conveyor reaper (KAMCO Model KR
120) was used for harvesting of paddy crop. The overall performance of the self propelled
vertical conveyor reaper was quite satisfactory. The actual field capacity of the power reaper
was found to be 0.29 ha/h with a field efficiency of 70% at an average operating speed of
3.00 km/h. The fuel consumption was 0.8 l/h. the cost of cultivation of paddy crop could be
reduced through mechanization of harvesting operations. Cost of mechanical harvesting was
690 Rs./ha compared to 2500 Rs./ha as in case of traditional method i.e. manual harvesting
using local sickle. The overall cost of harvesting was found to be decreased in case of
mechanized harvesting by self propelled vertical conveyor reaper. Hence, the mechanical
harvesting would be feasible and economical compared to traditional method in terms of
time, labour requirement and money.
Keywords: mechanized harvesting, reaper, field capacity, field efficiency.

Introduction

Rice is one of the most important crop and staple food of millions of people which is
grown in many countries of the world. The total area planted under rice crop in India is 42.20
million ha, which is the largest in the world as against the total area of 148.40 million ha
(Choudhary and Varshney, 2003). Production of rice is increasing but in most of the parts of
the country the harvesting of paddy is still being done manually. Manual harvesting requires
about 25% of the total labour requirement of the crop. Depending upon the crop yield, 120 to
250 man-h required for cutting, bundling and on farm stacking of one ha of paddy field by
using traditional sickle (Nadeem, 1983). Labour scarcity during peak period of harvesting
leads to delay in harvesting and field grain losses. Also high labour wages during peak period
adds extra cost in total cost of cultivation. Mechanized harvesting is an alternative solution to
tackle this problem. Farm mechanization will also result in lesser cost of operation. An
alternative straw handling and disposal technology may have to be developed and promoted
Received Aug 16, 2014 * Published Oct 2, 2014 * www.ijset.net
1702 R.P. Murumkar, U.R. Dongarwar, P.A. Borkar, P.S. Pisalkar and D.S. Phad

where farmers have adopted combines for harvesting as burning of straw is creating
environmental pollution and farmers are losing valuable animal feed material. Reapers on the
other hand are other alternative harvesting equipments, provided straw is considered as
economic by-product for animal feed and/or industrial applications (Singh, 2002). Keeping
these facts in view, the study was conducted to minimize the cost of harvesting of paddy crop
through farm mechanization.
Material and Methods
On farm trials and field demonstrations were conducted at Krishi Vigyan Kendra and
Agriculture Research Station, Sakoli Dist. Bhandara (M.S.) during kharif 2010-2012 and
rabi/summer, 2010-2012 to study the economic feasibility of self propelled vertical conveyor
reaper for harvesting of paddy. The field trials/field demonstrations were also carried out on
farmers field. Experimental details in respect of crop variety, area covered, date of paddy
transplanting and harvesting, etc. are presented in Table 1. The detailed technical
specifications of self propelled vertical conveyor reaper used are shown in Table 2. Speed of
operation, width of cutting, total time required to cover the area and the fuel consumption
were recorded. The following parameters were studied to study the performance of the self
propelled vertical conveyor reaper.
1. Theoretical field capacity was calculated based on the speed of operation and width of
cutting of the machine.
2. Actual field capacity was calculated based on area covered and actual time taken for
covering the area including the time lost in turning.
3. Field efficiency was obtained by dividing actual field capacity by the theoretical field
capacity.
4. Labour saving by using the machine compared to manual harvesting was also studied.
5. Cost of harvesting per ha by reaper was worked out after taking into consideration the
fixed cost, labour cost, fuel cost, field capacity of the equipment and usage of the machine in
ha per year and was compared with the manual harvesting.
Results and Discussion
Paddy crop was harvested using self propelled vertical conveyor power reaper. Based on the
field demonstrations conducted during kharif 2010, 2011, 2012 and rabi/summer 2010-12, it
was observed that the actual cutting width of the reaper was 1.20 m. The actual field capacity
of the self propelled vertical conveyor reaper was 0.3 ha/h with a field efficiency of 72% at
 Performance Evaluation of Self Propelled Vertical Conveyor Reaper 1703

an average operating speed of 3.2 kmph (Table 3). It took 3.45 h to harvest 1 ha area and the
fuel consumption was 5.7 l/ha or 1.6 lit/h.
The working of self propelled vertical conveyor reaper was found to be satisfactory.
The labour requirement was found to be 11 man days per hectare including manual collection
and bundling of the harvested crop compared to 22 man days of labour per hectare in manual
harvesting, collecting and bundling of the crop. Thus, it saved 11 man days of labour per
hectare.
From the study, it can be concluded that the self propelled vertical conveyor powder
reaper could be used successfully with a labour saving of 11 man days per hectare and
reducing the drudgery of labours. The area of 2.32 ha can be harvested per day if the field
capacity is kept as 0.29 ha/h. Considering the two months harvesting season, the maximum
area that can be harvested using the self propelled vertical conveyor reaper will be 139.2 ha.
If the machine is used for the maximum usage of 139.2 ha in a year, the cost of mechanical
harvesting will be Rs. 690/- per ha as compared to Rs. 2500/- per ha in case of manual
harvesting. Thus it is feasible to minimize the cost of operation of paddy harvesting. Thus
mechanization in paddy harvesting is a feasible solution for reducing the cost of harvesting of
paddy crop.
Table 1. Details of the demonstrations
Sr. Particulars Kharif 2010 Kharif 2011 Kharif 2012 Rabi/Summer 2011-12
No
.
Reaper Manual Reaper Manual Reaper Manual Reaper Manual
harvestin harvesting harvesting harvesting harvesting harvesting harvesting harvesting
g
1. Paddy PKV PKV HMT IR 64 IR 64 IR 64 IR 64 MTU 1010 MTU 1010
variety HMT
2. Area, ha 0.25 0.15 1.0 0.08 2.0 0.12 5.0 0.2
3. Date of 30.07.20 30.07.2010 10.08.2011 10.08.2011 30.07.2012 30.07.2012 05.12.2011 05.12.2011
nursery 10
raising
4. Type of Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal Normal
nursery
raised
5. Date of 25.08.20 25.08.2010 10.09.2011 10.09.2011 26.08.2012 26.08.2012 09.01.2012 09.01.2012
transplanti 10
ng
6. N:P2O5:K 150:75:7 150:75:75 150:75:75 150:75:75 150:75:75 150:75:75 150:75:75 150:75:75
2O, Kg/ha 5
7. Date of 24.12.20 24.12.2010 18.01.2011 18.01.2011 24.12.2012 24.12.2012 01.05.2012 01.05.2012
harvest 10
1704 R.P. Murumkar, U.R. Dongarwar, P.A. Borkar, P.S. Pisalkar and D.S. Phad

Table 2. Technical specification of self propelled vertical conveyor reaper

Sr. Parameters Specifications
No.
1. Manufacturer Kerala Agro Machinary Corporation Ltd., (A
Govt. of Kerala undertaking), Athani-683 585,
Dist. Ernakulam
2. Model KR 120
3. Dimensions, LxWxH, cm 239 x 147 x 90
4. Weight, Kg 116
5. Power unit 3.5 HP single cylinder 4 stroke, air cooled, petrol
start, kerosene run engine
6. Working capacity, ha/h 0.25 to 0.30
7. Crop release Right side of the machine (viewed from rear)
8. Travel speed, km/h
Forward 3.5
Backward 3.0
9. Applicability Dry and wet land
10. Cutting device Reciprocating knife bar
11. Cutting height, cm 10-30 cm from ground level (adjustable)
12. Cutting width, cm 120

Table 3. Performance of self propelled vertical conveyor reaper in transplanted paddy

Sr. Parameters Kharif 2010 Kharif 2011 Kharif 2012 Rabi/summer

No. 2011-2012
1. Date of harvesting 24.12.2010 18.01.2011 24.12.2012 01.05.2012
2. Total area, ha 0.25 1.0 2.0 5.0
3. Speed of operation, 3.2 3.1 3.2 3.1
km/h
4. Width of operation, 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
m
5. Time taken to cover 3.30 h 3.45 h 3.45 h 4h
1 ha area
6. Theoretical field 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41
capacity, ha/h
7. Actual field 0.29 0.28 0.28 0.25
capacity, ha/h
8. Field efficiency, % 72 65 65 60
9. Labour requirement, 11 11 11 12
man days/ha
10. Fuel consumption, 5.70 5.75 5.80 6.50
l/ha
11. Harvesting loss, % 0.98 1.04 1.01 1.05

References
[1] Anonymous 2000. The Hindu-Survey of Indian Agriculture.
[2] Gyanendra Singh, 2002. Equipment to ensure timeliness. The Hindu-Survey of Indian
Agriculture, 195-198.
 Performance Evaluation of Self Propelled Vertical Conveyor Reaper 1705

[3] M.V. Manjunatha, B.G. Masthana Reddy, S.D. Shashidhar and Joshi, V.R. 2009. Field
performance evaluation of vertical conveyor paddy reaper. Karnataka Journal of Agriculture
Science, 22(1):140-142.
[4] Nadeem Amjad, 1983. Field performance evaluation of rice reaper. In: Agricultural
mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, 14:35-40.
[5] Ved Prakash Chaudhary and Varshney, B.P., 2003. Influence of seedling mat
characteristics and machine parameters on performance of self- propelled rice transplanter.
In: Agriculture mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America, 34:13-38.

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