Innovation Detail

Innovation Description

Profile
Innovator Mr. P. Ramaraju is from the Erode district of Tamil Nadu. He is in the profession of farming since his childhood. Once the innovator was suffering from the problem of labour scarcity for harvesting turmeric rhizomes, delay in harvesting results loss in yield and also the quality of rhizomes is affected adversely, so he started modifying the machines 

Purpose
Mr. P. Ramaraju has developed a machine for harvesting turmeric. The shortage of labour forced Mr. Ramaraju to think of an automation solution for the harvesting of turmeric rhizomes. Because of the delay in harvesting lead him to lose yield and adversely affected the quality of rhizomes. 

Technical details

This is a power tiller operated turmeric harvester. It is mounted at the rear of the power tiller and takes drive from the PTO shaft. This machine has slats in it. The oscillatory motion of these slats helps to separate the turmeric rhizome from the soil without damage.

Construction and Working:
Power tiller operated harvester is mounted in the rear of power tiller and takes drive from its PTO through belt and pulley. It has a blade with three bar points for easy penetration into the soil, connected with eight slats of mild steel which gets oscillating motion from the power tiller through eccentrics. The harvester attachment gets to drive through the gearbox of the power tiller which supplies power to rotavator when it is mounted to power tiller. After the gearbox, power is transmitted to an intermediate shaft of 3” diameter which supplies power to a shaft provided at top of the harvester attachment through belt and pulley (4”). The shaft powers eccentrics provided on both the sides of slats. These eccentrics convert rotary power into oscillations. With two speed settings of power tillers, 70-100 oscillations per minute are produced.

Performance
The fuel consumption is1.5 L 
The developed machine has a capacity of about 0.2 acres per hour.
It has a field capacity of about 0.2 acres per hour while consuming 1.5 litres of diesel fuel.

Benefits
The only single person is required for the operation. It is easy to use and is economically viable. It saves time and reduces drudgery. No need for a skilled person to operate the developed machine.


Suggested reading(s):

Annamalai, S. J., & Naik, R. (2012). Performance of power tiller mounted turmeric harvester at optimized crop and operational parameters. Journal of Plantation Crops (India).

Indiamart, (2021). Turmeric harvester. Retrieved on February 3, 2021, from https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/turmeric-harvester-4685775773.html

YouTube, (2011). Turmeric harvester. Retrieved on February 3, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAHxeC5XvZk