Journal Journal

of Applied
Appl Journal of Applied Horticulture, 22(3): 265-269, 2020 Horticulture
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2020.v22i03.46 ISSN: 0972-1045

Development of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester for

small farmers

P. Dhananchezhiyan1*, K. Keerthika2 and C. Kowsalya2

Assistant Professor, Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
1

Coimbatore, P.O.B. 641003, Tamil Nadu, India. 2Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu
Agricultural University, Kumulur, P.O.B.621712, Tamil Nadu, India. *E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
This study was aimed to develop the mini-tractor drawn turmeric harvester cum conveyor to dig out and collect the turmeric rhizome.
The physical properties of freshly harvested turmeric mother and finger rhizomes (Erode variety) relevant to the development of mini-
tractor operated turmeric harvester were determined. Length, width and thickness were 7.90, 2.48, 2.32 cm, respectively. The moisture
content of finger and mother rhizomes was found to be 386.85 and 231.56 % (db). The roundness of fresh finger and mother rhizomes
were 0.3065 and 0.5244, respectively. Sphericity of the fresh finger and mother rhizomes recorded 0.3052 and 0.4312, respectively.
The cylindricity of fresh finger and mother rhizomes was found to be 0.7604 and 0.6428, respectively. The bulk density of finger and
mother rhizomes was 523.85 and 532.25 kg/m3, respectively. Based on these physical properties, the equipment was developed with
overall dimensions of 1000×1000×600 mm (L×W×H). The digger blade was designed with dimensions of 1000(l) × 200(b) × 8(t) mm.
Length and width of conveyor is 700 mm and 1000 mm, respectively. Power required for digging, pulling the equipment and conveyor
is 11.54 kW, 0.66 kW and 1.15 kW, respectively. Total power requirement of the unit is 13.35 kW.
Key words: Turmeric, harvester, physical property, mini-tractor, rhizome

Introduction An appropriate digging tool with a digging blade and a soil

separation and rhizome collection mechanism would make the
India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric harvester complete in all respects. If a suitable mechanism could
in the world. India accounts for about 80 per cent of total world be developed for removing the soil coming with rhizome and
production of turmeric, though major part of its produce is being collecting the rhizome, it could be more efficient and beneficial
utilized within the country (Singh 2004). Turmeric occupies to farmers.
about 6 per cent of the total area under spices and condiments in
India (Moghe et al., 2012). In Tamil Nadu, it is planted on ridges, The investigation envisaged to develop a suitable mini-tractor
20 to 25 cm high and 45 to 60 cm broad. The planting distance operated turmeric harvester to dig out and collect the turmeric
is normally 20 to 30 cm at a depth of 7.5 cm. Madan (2008) rhizome.
reported that the conventional methods need more labors with less
field capacity, which increase cost of production. Conventional Materials and methods
method of manual digging results into bruising and damaging of Physical properties: The important physical properties of freshly
rhizomes which affect its quality and market price. Farmers lack harvested turmeric mother and finger rhizomes (Erode variety)
in machinery usage skills in turmeric cultivation particularly in namely moisture content, size, shape and bulk density were
planting and harvesting operation. determined with 25 randomly selected rhizomes. Moisture content
Zate et al. (2018) reported that the farmers are planting turmeric of turmeric rhizomes was determined by toluene distillation
and ginger on raised beds. It is prepared 20 to 30 cm in height method (ASTA, 1968). The moisture content was estimated as
and 75 to 100 cm in width with a convenient length with at least given below.
30 cm spacing between two rows of turmeric on the beds. Munde Vw
M= × ρw × 100 (1)
et al. (2010) reported that the mother rhizome or finger rhizome Ws
are either planted on raised beds of 60 to 90 cm width with 15 Where,
cm height on ridges and furrow or in flat system. The spacing is M is the moisture content, % (wb)
kept 30 × 15 cm or 30 × 20 cm (in beds) and 40 to 60 × 25 cm (on Vw is the volume of water collected in trap, cm3
ridges and in furrows) and 60 × 15 cm (in flat system). Murugesan Ws is the weight of the sample, g
and Tajuddin (1995) developed a turmeric digger with two ρw is the density of water, g cm-3
digger blades of size 825×150×10 mm joined together for proper Size, generally refers to the characteristic of an object which
penetration and to reduce draft. The tubers were left in soil without determines space requirement within the limit and is described
inversion. Tapare (2005) developed tractor mounted turmeric in terms of length, width and thickness. Three samples each
digger. The blade length was 60 cm and depth was 18-20 cm. weighing 1 kg was randomly drawn from the bulk to determine
Journal of Applied Horticulture (www.horticultureresearch.net)
266 Development of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester for small farmers

the size of turmeric finger rhizomes. The dimensions along three transmission gear box, three point hitches, digging blade and
mutually perpendicular axes, namely major (length), intermediate conveyor.
(width) and minor (thickness) of each rhizome in the natural rest
position were measured using a vernier calliper having a least Frame: The main frame consists of a rectangular section of
count of 0.1 mm. 300×1000×600 mm. On the main frame, conveyor support
frames of 700×1000×600 mm channel section fabricated. The
The shape of the rhizomes may be expressed as sphere, cylinder or various components namely digging blade assembly, conveyor
disc after measuring its sphericity, cylindricity and roundness. The assembly and speed reduction unit were mounted on the frame
roundness, sphericity and cylindricity of turmeric rhizomes were by appropriate supports and frame work.
calculated by tracing the magnified shadowgraphs of ten rhizomes
in three mutually perpendicular positions for roundness and Power transmission system: The power is taken from the PTO
sphericity and in two mutually perpendicular positions for cylindricity shaft of the mini-tractor to the conveyor mechanism through gear
on a graph sheet, with the help of an overhead projector (Dutta et al., box (to change the direction), belt and pulley drive. The speed and
1988 and Kaleemullah, 1992). The roundness and sphericity were size of the pulley is calculated based on the equation 6 (Khurmi
calculated by using the following formulae (Curray, 1951): and Gupta, 2005).
Ap
πD1N1 = πD2N2 (6)
R= (2)
Ac Where,
N1- Speed of driven pulley
di
S= (3) N2- Speed of driver pulley
dc D1- driven pulley diameter
Where, D2- driver pulley diameter
R - roundness, decimal The length of belt is calculated based on following equation
Ap- the largest projected area of rhizomes in a natural rest position, cm2 π 1
Ac- area of the smallest circumscribing circle, cm2 L= 2C+ (D1 + D2)+ (D2 + D1) (7)
2 4C
S - sphericity, decimal
di - diameter of the largest inscribing circle, cm Where,
L-Length of drive belt for pulleys 1 and 2
dc- diameter of the smallest circumscribing circle, cm
C-Centre distance between the two pulleys = 700 mm
Shape of the rhizomes in terms of cylindricity (C) was determined L = 2 × 700 + π (80 + 80)/ 2 + (80-80)/ 4×700 = 1650 mm
by using the following expression (Kaleemullah and Kailappan, Three point hitch: A three point hitch attaches the implement to
2003), the degree of cylindricity is expressed as:
1/3
the tractor so that the orientation of the implement is fixed with
 D 2L  respect to the tractor and the arm position of the hitch. Standard
C =  i2 i 
 D c L c  dimensions of three point linkage for this category of implements
(4)
Where, are fabricated as per ASAE standard (2001).
C is the cylindricity, in decimal Blade: The optimized digging blade was mounted on the frame
Di is the diameter of the largest inscribed cylinder, cm behind the tractor through the three point linkage. The digging
Dc is the diameter of the smallest circumscribed cylinder, cm
system made up of mild steel and it consists of straight blade
Li is the length of the largest inscribed cylinder, cm
with digging chisel and guiding rake behind the blades. Length
Lc is the length of the smallest circumscribed cylinder, cm
of the blade (width of operation) is 1000 mm and width is 200
Bulk density was calculated as the ratio between mass and bulk mm. Blade is made up of mild steel sheet and flat.
volume of turmeric rhizomes. One bag of rhizomes (25 kg) was
poured over a horizontal surface from a height of 50 cm slowly Conveyor-elevator assembly: The conveyor-elevator is made
and the rhizomes were allowed to fall freely too. The slant height of elevator strips, sprocket and chain drive and support frame.
(l) of the pile was determined by measuring it at different places The chain and sprocket drive system have their drives taken from
and taking the average. The radius (r) of the pile was calculated the gearbox on the side through mild steel pulley and belt drive
from the circumference of the pile formed. Using slant height l, system (Fig. 3). Two pairs of 90 mm diameter sprockets are fixed
radius of the pile r, volume of the pile was determined and then with necessary support on both sides of support frame. On the
the bulk density was calculated. sprocket, chain link supports are given to aid in the movement
h= (l 2
− r2 ) (5) of the conveyor.
1
Vb=
3
π r2 h Results and discussion
Wb Physical properties
ρb=
Vb
The results of physical properties like moisture content, size,
Where,
shape and bulk density of turmeric rhizomes are presented and
ρb is the bulk density of turmeric rhizomes, kg m-3
discussed in this section.
Wb is the mass of bulk turmeric, kg
Vb is the volume of the pile, m3 Moisture content: The moisture content of fresh finger and
Development of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester mother rhizomes were found to be 384.56 and 228.60 % (db),
A turmeric harvester was developed with following components respectively. Athmaselvi and Varadharaju (2002) reported 82 per
based on physical properties of rhizomes viz., frame, power cent (wb) moisture content in Erode local.
Journal of Applied Horticulture (www.horticultureresearch.net)
 Development of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester for small farmers 267

Side view

Top view

Fig. 3. Developed mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester

and mother rhizomes, respectively and it was found that the
roundness of fresh finger and mother rhizomes were 0.3065 and
0.5244, respectively. Sphericity of the fresh finger and mother
rhizomes was 0.3052 and 0.4312, respectively. The cylindricity
of fresh finger and mother rhizomes were found to be 0.7604
and 0.6428, respectively. As both finger and mother rhizomes
cylindricity values were higher than roundness and sphericity
Fig. 1. Design drawing of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester (All values, the shape of the fresh finger and mother rhizomes can be
dimensions in cm) considered as cylinder for all practical purposes.
Bulk density: The bulk density of finger and mother rhizomes
was found to be 623.50 and 630.35 kg m-3, respectively. The
decrease in bulk density with decrease in moisture content indicates
that the decrease in weight owing to moisture loss in the sample is
greater than the accompanying volumetric contraction of the bulk.
Athmaselvi and Varadharaju (2002) reported that the bulk density
of Erode Local varied from 753 to 801 kg m-3 at the moisture range
of 10 to 70 per cent (wb).
Development of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester
Design of digger blade thickness: The digger blade was assumed
as a simply supported beam by three shanks at its sides.
Resistance force for cutting for blade = 16480/3 = 5493.3 N
The blade was made of mild steel (0.5 × 0.2 m)
Draft / unit length, w = 5493.3/0.33 = 16646.5 N m-1
Maximum bending moment = wl2/8
= (16646.5× 0.33× 0.33)/8 = 226.6 Nm
Allowable bending stress for mild steel section, f = 120 ×106 N m-2
Fig. 2. Design drawing-Isometric view Flexural formula states, M/I = f/y
Size: The turmeric finger rhizomes have branching of varying Where, M = Bending moment
size and shape. Hence, relatively smaller primary and secondary I = Moment of inertia = bt3/12
developments (fingers) were removed and all the measurements Where, b = width of blade, m
were made only for main fingers as reported by Parveen et t = thickness of blade, m
y = t/2
al. (2009). Tri-axial linear dimensions viz., major (length),
I = 0.2 t3/12 = 0.0167 t3
intermediate (width) and minor (thickness) of turmeric finger
rhizome in the natural rest position were found to be 78.5, 24.5, By flexural formula,
23 mm, respectively. 226.6 120 × 106
=
0.0167 t3 t/2
Shape: The shape of turmeric finger and mother rhizomes in
t = 0.0075 m = 7.5 mm
terms of roundness, sphericity and cylindricity were measured at
a moisture content of 384.56 and 228.60 % (db) for fresh finger Therefore, a mild steel plate of 8 mm thickness was selected for
Journal of Applied Horticulture (www.horticultureresearch.net)
268 Development of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester for small farmers

the digger blade. Therefore, the dimensions of the digger blade Specification of mini-tractor operated turmeric harvester
were 1000(l) × 200(b) × 8(t) mm. S.No. Parameters Specifications
Power required for digging: The row spacing adopted was 450 1 Overall dimensions (L×W×H), mm 1000×1000×600
mm and hence the width of cut for a single blade for two rows 2 Power source 25 hp
over a total width of 900 mm was selected. The maximum depth 3 Blade width × thickness, mm 1000×8
4 Length of belt, mm 1650
of operation required is 200 mm (Kawale et al., 2018).
5 Digging depth , mm Upto 200
Area of cross section of soil dugout by blade = depth × width 6 Length of conveyor, mm 700
= 0.2 × 1 m
7 Gear box speed ratio 2:1
= 0.2 m2
8 Type of conveyor Chain conveyor
The maximum unit draft of soil = 0.103 × 106 N m-2
9 Numbers of conveyor flats 18
Since, the implement is operated in the soil which is relatively 10 Spacing between the conveyor flats, mm 50
loose compared to unploughed field, the unit draft is taken as 80 11 Power transmission Belt drive
% of assumed value. 12 Slope of conveyor, degree 20
Therefore, unit draft = 0.103 × 106 × 0.8 = 82400 N m-2 13 Weight of the unit, kg 120
Soil resistance for cutting = unit draft × area of cross section of soil cut
= 82400 × 0.2 = 16480 N 1000×1000×600 mm. The digger blade was designed with
Assuming the forward speed of tractor = 0.7 m s-1 dimensions of 1000(l) × 200(b) × 8(t) mm. Length and width
Power required = draft × speed = 16480 × 0.7 = 11536 W or 11.54 kW of conveyor was 700 mm and 1000 mm, respectively. Power
required for digging, pulling an equipment and conveyor are
Power required for pulling implement 11.54 kW, 0.66 kW and 1.15 kW. Total power requirement of
Total weight of the implement with hitch frame = 1177 N (120 kg) the unit is 13.35 kW.
Force required to pull the unit, F = µR An turmeric harvesting equipment was developed with overall
Where, dimensions of 1000×1000×600 mm (L×W×H). The digger blade
µ = coefficient of friction was designed with dimensions of 1000(l) × 200(b) × 8(t) mm.
R = weight of the unit, N Power required for digging, pulling the equipment and conveyor
Coefficient of friction was taken as 0.8 (Kepner et al., 2003) is 11.54 kW, 0.66 kW and 1.15 kW, respectively. Total power
Therefore, F = 0.8 × 1177 = 941.6 N requirement of the unit is 13.35 kW.
= 941.6 × 0.7 = 660 W or 0.66 kW

Power required for conveyor References

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