Development of power-tiller mounted cotton picker for selective picking with women operators

摘要

This paper highlights the development of women-operated pneumatic powered cotton picker attachment to powertiller compatible to major Indian cotton varieties and the performance results with a special emphasis to optimization of functional components. For development of the unit, dimensions of machine parameters, viz, pick-up pipe diameter, filter type, filter height, collection drum capacity, and aspirator speed were optimized through build and test method. The effect of variations of said parameters on pressure, which directly induces picking force, was studied independently and in combination, and the best-suited parameters were selected through statistical analysis. From the statistical analysis, the optimized cotton picker is with pick-up diameter of 25 mm, nylon mesh filter of 400 mm height and with 150 L capacity collection drum with the aspirator speed of 5500 rpm. The cost of picking with picker was (sic) 9.50 per kg of cotton (0.16 USD). The saving in cost, time, and energy compared to manual picking are 17.0, 75.0, and 74.6% respectively. The break-even point and pay-back period for the picker are 5900 kg/annum and 0.45 year respectively. The pneumatic principles adopted in the development of cotton-picker are promising in addressing the requirement of the women for cotton picking in Indian farms.