Optimization of Parameters for Cutting and Conveying Mechanism of Sorghum Harvester

In any agricultural production system, harvesting and threshing are the two most labor-intensive operations. Sorghum is still mostly harvested manually in India, which is labor intensive and time consuming. It is a laborious and tedious task and existing machines are costly, so small and marginal farmers cannot afford it. In the view, present investigation have been undertaken to develop suitable sorghum harvester and optimize the it’s operational parameters. The optimized parameters were verified in the field on the developed harvester. The parameter optimization model of sorghum harvesting was established to obtain the optimal parameter combination where the cutting efficiency and conveying efficiency reach the maximum while the shattering losses reaches the minimum. The regression mathematical model of cutting efficiency, conveying efficiency and shattering losses was established and variance analysis was carried out. By analyzing the effect of interaction of various factors on responses by response surface methodology and performing multi-objective optimization on the regression model according to the importance of the optimization target, the optimal combination of the operating parameters of the cutting-conveying system of the developed sorghum harvester was obtained: The optimum parameters of sorghum harvester were found viz., forward speed 2.00 km/h, conveying speed 3.00 m/s and crop moisture content 25.88%. The performance trails of developed sorghum harvester were taken at optimized parameters. The average effective field capacity and field efficiency of the sorghum harvester was found to be 0.342 ha/h and 79.72% respectively. The average cutting efficiency, conveying efficiency and shattering losses of the sorghum harvester was found to be 98.34%, 96.72% and 0.41% respectively. The average fuel consumption of the sorghum harvester was found 4.70 𝑙/h and 13.35 𝑙/ha. The time required to accomplish one hectare sorghum harvesting with a tractor operated sorghum harvester was determined and found 2.92 hours. The average cost of operation of sorghum harvester was found Rs.750 per h and Rs.2200 per ha. The breakeven point and payback period of the developed tractor operated sorghum harvester was worked out as 216.25 ha per year and 397 h respectively.