Abstract:
Harvesting, a crucial field operation for any food grain crop, is the process of reaping the
crop when it reaches physiological maturity in order to ensure the highest possible recovery
of quality product. Rapid harvesting provide extra days in order to prepare the land and to
plan the next crop earlier specialy for irrigation based farming. and currently the country
is also tries to transform rain based agriculture to irrigation. The sorghum fields of Raya-Kobo and Azebo were chosen as study sites to better understand the effects of manual
sorghum harvesting practices. The main examined draw backs were low sorghum yield
productivity due to the lack of affordable modern machineries, inadequate control of
repeated sorghum crop losses due to unexpected rains, labor crisis and long harvesting
process during the harvesting peak period. Hence, the aim of this research was to build a
compatible sorghum reaper machine by using different methods. The initial approach
involved measuring the diameter, length, and weight of seed-stage sorghum stalks by
collecting samples from fields and recording the stalk's tensile and shear strength values
using a universal tester machine. The reaper component were then constructed by preparing
concept development and selection, based on produced AHP selection criteria, from Indian
forage stalk maize reapers, turkey rice reapers, and china hemp reapers. The designed
machine is self-propelled and powered by a 14 hp diesel engine truck positioned in the
back at full load. CATIA V5, R19 software was used to create 2D and 3D models of part
of a reaper. The reaper shafts analytical designs were compared with FEM using ANSYS,
the results were accomplished with less than 5.5% errors. Particularly in the reciprocating
system of the cutter bar, cranks and cutter bars were simulated using created mat lab codes
to reduce such catastrophic failures. As a result, the crank is in proper rotation, and the
cutter bar is in exact translation. The forward speed in full load,
m
V
,
1.3 / ms
, Cutting speed,
f
V
1.82 / ms
, and Conveying speed,
s
V
,
3.076 / ms
were analyzed as significant points.
Finally, if this reaper machine is built soon, it will be capable of reaping
4.67km
/hr of
matured sorghum fields.
Key words: Crop losses, FEM, manual harvesting, mechanized agriculture, Sorghum.