scholarly journals Development and performance of a motorized cowpea threshing machine for small scale farmers in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 001-007
Author(s):  
Fawohunre Ademola Jerome ◽  
Olajide Omotayo Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Throughput Capacity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cleaning Efficiency ◽  
Grain Damage ◽  
Fan Speed ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Small Scale Farmers

A motorized cowpea threshing machine was developed and evaluated to meet the need of small – scale farmers in the developing countries especially Nigeria. A power rating of 0.75 kW, fan speed of 826 rpm, beater speed of 418 rpm were used for the design. The driver and driven pulleys of 59 mm and 198 mm were used respectively. Two varieties of cowpea were used to evaluate the performance of the machine. The evaluation results showed that average threshing efficiency, cleaning efficiency, percentage of grain damage and throughput capacity were determined to be 83.6, 71.1, 4.4%, and 74.5 kg/hr respectively for Ife brown variety and 84.9, 68.5, 4.7%, and 73.0 kg/hr respectively for IAR 48 variety. The investigation was conducted at three levels of moisture content of 13.5, 14.5 and 15.5% wet basis. Based on the performance of the machine, effective threshing of different varieties of cowpea with minimum grain loss, improved threshing capacity cleaning and efficiency were achieved and yet good quality products was achieved.

scholarly journals Modification of Institute for Agricultural Research Multi-Crop Thresher for Improved Performances

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunusi I Idris ◽  
Usman S Mohammed ◽  
Nura A Sale ◽  
Ibrahim B Dalha
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Feed Rate ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Throughput Capacity ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Maximum Throughput ◽  
Cleaning Efficiency ◽  
Grain Damage ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Extraneous Material

In millet producing areas of Nigeria, the predominant method of threshing is traditional. It involves beating the millet panicle with a stick, over a log of wood or by pounding using mortar and pestle. This method is inefficient, time-consuming, labor intensive, prone to drudgery, uneconomical, low output and gives product contaminate with extraneous material such as stones and sand. Though imported threshers are effective in millet threshing; they are expensive, complexed in design and required skillful personnel for operation. An Institute for Agricultural Research  (IAR) multi-crop thresher for sorghum, millet, and wheat was modified for improved performances. The performance of the modified thresher was evaluated using Ex-borno variety of pearl millet. Two levels of moisture content; 9.21% and 10.81%, four feed rates levels; 3, 4, 5 and 6 kg/min, four levels of drum speed; 700, 800, 900 and 1000 rpm were considered during the experiment. The test results indicated as high as 98.78% threshing efficiency, a minimum of 1.02% grain damage, maximum cleaning efficiency of 97.19%, and 2.50% scatter loss and maximum throughput capacity of 194.02 kg/hr. In comparison to the previous thresher, threshing efficiency, mechanical grain damage, cleaning efficiency, scatter losses, and throughput capacity have improved by 2.01%, 330.56%, 9.79%, 10.78%, and 69.86% respectively. The developed thresher is anticipated to increase the farmer’s productivity due to improved performances.Keywords: Millet, Threshing Efficiency, Cleaning Efficiency, Feed Rate, cylinder Speed

MECHANIZATION OF POTATO GRADING ON SMALL-SCALE FARMS: A CASE STUDY FROM PERU

2005 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. P. BUTLER ◽  
T. BERNET ◽  
K. MANRIQUE
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
Important Cash Crop

Potatoes are an important cash crop for small-scale producers worldwide. The move away from subsistence to commercialized farming, combined with the rapid growth in demand for processed agricultural products in developing countries, implies that small-scale farmers and researchers alike must begin to respond to these market changes and consider post-harvest treatment as a critical aspect of the potato farming system. This paper presents and assesses a low cost potato-grading machine that was designed explicitly to enable small-scale potato growers to sort tubers by size for supply to commercial processors. The results of ten experiments reveal that the machine achieves an accuracy of sort similar to commercially available graders. The machine, which uses parallel conical rollers, has the capacity to grade different tuber shapes and to adjust sorting classes, making it suitable for locations with high potato diversity. Its relatively low cost suggests that an improved and adapted version of this machine might enhance market integration of small-scale potato producers not only in Peru, but in other developing countries as well.

scholarly journals Development and Performance Evaluation of a Small-scale Maize Harvester for Developing Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 144-156
Author(s):  
Julus H. Vodounnou ◽  
Emmanuel A. Ajav ◽  
Gontrand C. Bagan ◽  
Victorin K. Chegnimonhan
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Engine Speed ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Drive Power ◽  
Smallholder Farms ◽  
Testing Experiment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Chain Conveyor

A small-scale maize harvester was designed and fabricated for developing countries and is composed of a harvester header, a chain conveyor, a drive power unit and a five-wheel tricycle. Fabrication of components was made and assembling of the devices on the tricycle was done. The performance evaluation of the small-scale maize harvester was done at 15% kernels moisture content (wet basis). Three rotational speeds of the engine, 1347, 1521 and 1937 rpm were used, while the forward velocity of the harvester was kept at an average of 0.617 km.hr-1. The testing experiment revealed significant effect of physical properties of maize (p<0,05). The highest machine capacity was obtained at 0.05 ha.hr-1, while the highest driving efficiency was 97.30% and the highest picking and conveying efficiencies were 84.11% and 98.21%, respectively. However, it was observed that the machine noise level decreased with increase in engine speed. Also, the engine speed affected both picking and conveying efficiencies. The designed machine is found suitable for most smallholder farms.

scholarly journals Development, Fabrication and Performance Evaluation of Mango Pulp Extractor for Cottage Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 827-839
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ehtasham Akram ◽  
Muhammad Azam Khan ◽  
Muhammad Usman Khan ◽  
Usman Amin ◽  
Muhammad Haris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extraction Efficiency ◽  
Physicochemical Analysis ◽  
Optimum Operating ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Pulp Yield ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Cottage Industry ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
Mango Pulp

The loss of fresh fruits after harvesting is not new since it has constantly been a challenge for humankind. The growing population in developing countries, where food shortages exist, require serious food security measures to address hunger and malnutrition. Present research focused on the development, fabrication and testing of mango pulp extractor to assist small-scale fruit farmers in the countryside with a view to minimizing fruit spoilage. The unit, whose major material was food grade stainless steel (SS-304), consists of major components such as teflon brushes mounted shaft, motor, main frame, hopper, extraction compartment, pulp outlet, fruit residue outlet, perforated sieve and bearings. After construction, the machine was tested at three feed rate (2.0, 2.5, 3.0 kg/min) and extraction speed levels (500, 900 and 1400 rpm). Each of these factors was replicated three times, which resulted into 3 × 3 × 3 factorial experimental design. The optimum operating parameters for maximum pulp yield, maximum extraction efficiency and minimum extraction losses were determined. The physicochemical analysis of the extracted pulp was also carried out. Results revealed a maximum pulp yield of 77.9%, highest extraction efficiency of 96.03% and highest extraction loss of 9.3%. The mango pulp extraction machine was found to be affordable, easy to operate and maintain. The breakeven point of the machine was found to be 40 h if the machine is operated at its peak capacity. Therefore, it is recommended for small-scale farmers and for cottage industry.

scholarly journals Modification and Performance Evaluation of Cleaning System for IAR Sorghum Thresher

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nura A Sale ◽  
U S Muhammed ◽  
M A Gwarzo ◽  
S I Idris
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Throughput Capacity ◽  
Cleaning Efficiency ◽  
Vertical Orientation ◽  
Cleaning Performance ◽  
Cleaning System ◽  
Randomized Complete Block Design ◽  
And Performance

Sorghum is a major source of food for most families and as raw material to many industries in Nigeria. Cleaning is among the most important post-harvest operation after threshing. However, manual cleaning of crop is quite tedious, time and labour intensive. A prototype thresher has already been developed at Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) but yet it has been associated with many difficulties during operation. Among the problems of IAR prototype sorghum thresher are low operating performance such as higher scatter loss and low cleaning efficiency thus the need for modification to improve the above mentioned parameters. This study was undertaken to modify the cleaning system of the IAR sorghum thresher with the aim of minimizing the drudgery involved in its operation and to improve its performance. The major modifications were on shaking mechanism and sieves. The number of sieves was increased from one to three while the connecting rode for shaking mechanism was changed from horizontal to vertical orientation. The sizes of the pulleys were also changed. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) experimental design was used for determining the effect of moisture content, speed and feed rate on the cleaning performance of the machine. The maximum performance achieved were 99.95 %, 5.45 %, and 250 kg/h for cleaning efficiency, scatter loss and throughput capacity respectively.

scholarly journals Construction and Evaluation of a Vertical Motorized Feed Mixer

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-41
Author(s):  
Adedeji M. A. ◽  
Adegboye T. A. ◽  
Adesina I. K. ◽  
Ajayi O. O. ◽  
Azeez N. A.
Keyword(s):  
Rotational Motion ◽  
Mixing Time ◽  
Throughput Capacity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Poultry Production ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Base Materials ◽  
Mixing Chamber ◽  
Mixed Material ◽  
Small Scale Farmers

In order to reduce the overall cost of poultry production by small scale farmers, a motorized feed mixer was modified, fabricated and evaluated. The mixer consists of an outer drum, an inner mixing chamber and an auger. All these components were vertically oriented for mixing operation. There was a hopper located at the base of the mixer for loading the materials and a chute for the discharging of mixed products. It was modified to work through a central rotating auger fixed on a shaft that carries a pulley of diameter 185 mm. The rotational motion was transmitted from a motor through a V-belt to the pulley shaft. A 5-0 hp electric motor with 1440 rpm was used to drive the machine. Mixing was achieved as the auger conveyed the feed materials from the bottom to the top, in a continuous rotational motion. The mixer was evaluated using a whole corn kernel (WCK) at 15.35 % (d.b) and small pieces of coloured paper (CP) of 5x5 mm² as tracers in ground maize as base materials. The auger pitch was reduced from 90.0 mm to 85.0 mm to increase the number of pitches from 10 to 12. This modification increased the throughput capacity of the mixer from 50.0 kg to 70.0 kg. The mixed material was delivered through the delivery chute after mixing. Mixing time values evaluated were 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 mins. The test results showed that maximum mixing occurred at 6.0 mins for coloured paper and 8.0 mins for whole kernel corn.

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