PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A SELF-PROPELLED MINI COMBINE HARVESTER JD12GD ON WHEAT CROP
A mini combine harvester is a light duty harvesting machine that simultaneously cuts, threshes and cleans standing crop of grain. Wheat harvesting, which is time consuming and labour intensive, is commonly done manually by peasant farmers in Kano State, Northern Nigeria. A self-propelled mini combine harvester JD12GD purchased by Agricultural and Environmental Engineering Department, Bayero University Kano was evaluated on 200 m by 40 m wheat field at Kano River Irrigation Project in Kura Local Government area of Kano State, Nigeria to ascertain its performance parameters. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was adopted for this study with three levels of forward speed (S); (S1)1.8 km/h, (S2) 2.3 km/h and (S3) 2.8 km/h, three levels of grain moisture content (M); (M1) 20.16%, (M2) 15.21% and (M3) 10.35% for Atilla and Norman-Borloug wheat varieties planted adjacent to one another on the field. The results of the experimental research show that the mean theoretical field capacity, effective field capacity, field efficiency, fuel consumption, and cleaning efficiency of the combine harvester on Atilla variety are 0.253 ha/h, 0.181 ha/h, 72.12%, 1.77 L/h, and 80.64% respectively while that on Norman-Borloug are 0.253 ha/h, 0.18 ha/h, 71.68%, 1.79 L/h, and 80.11% respectively. Analysis showed that the combine harvester performed better on Attilla variety with less grain losses during harvesting compared to Norman-Borloug wheat varieties. Further evaluation of the combine harvester under a wide range of grain crops and soil conditions across different agro-ecological zones and economic comparison with manual harvesting is recommended. This would facilitate the adoption of the combine harvester by smallholder farmers so that timeliness in harvesting could be ensured and grain losses minimized.
Authors : H. I. Abdullahi, M. S. Abubakar, N. D. Dangora and O. A. Salihu
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 6(1) Date Uploaded : 19th September 2020