Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms
Abstract To replace the traditional manual cabbage harvesting method commonly practiced by Indian farmers, a self-propelled walk-behind electric cabbage harvester was developed at the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur. The key concept was to cut the cabbage head from its st...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Discover Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s44279-025-00156-0 |
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| author | Pranay Sarkar Hifjur Raheman Arjya Utkalini Sahoo |
| author_facet | Pranay Sarkar Hifjur Raheman Arjya Utkalini Sahoo |
| author_sort | Pranay Sarkar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract To replace the traditional manual cabbage harvesting method commonly practiced by Indian farmers, a self-propelled walk-behind electric cabbage harvester was developed at the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur. The key concept was to cut the cabbage head from its stem and push the cut cabbage head to a storage unit with the help of a real-time vision-based precise cabbage pushing mechanism. Two counter-rotating disk cutters were used as cutting tools. The performance of the developed harvester was evaluated in a field (20 × 12 m) with three Indian cabbage varieties i.e., Pusa Mukta, Pusa Drumhead and September Early. The developed harvester had a working width of 0.6 m and when operated at a forward speed of 0.25 m/s, the actual field capacity and field efficiency were found to be 0.029 ha/h and 54.86%, respectively. The maximum value of cutting efficiency was found to be 80% for Pusa Mukta variety. The maximum instantaneous power consumption for cutting, pushing, conveying and propelling was found to be 948.53 W. Economic analysis of the developed harvester was carried out and it was found that operational cost was 26.85% lower than traditional harvesting method. The break-even point of the developed cabbage harvester was calculated as 6.43 ha/year. Graphical Abstract |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5111fe134daa45bf8fa47300255c6382 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2731-9598 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discover Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-5111fe134daa45bf8fa47300255c63822025-01-26T12:48:45ZengSpringerDiscover Agriculture2731-95982025-01-013111510.1007/s44279-025-00156-0Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farmsPranay Sarkar0Hifjur Raheman1Arjya Utkalini Sahoo2Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology KharagpurAgricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology KharagpurC. V. Raman Global UniversityAbstract To replace the traditional manual cabbage harvesting method commonly practiced by Indian farmers, a self-propelled walk-behind electric cabbage harvester was developed at the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur. The key concept was to cut the cabbage head from its stem and push the cut cabbage head to a storage unit with the help of a real-time vision-based precise cabbage pushing mechanism. Two counter-rotating disk cutters were used as cutting tools. The performance of the developed harvester was evaluated in a field (20 × 12 m) with three Indian cabbage varieties i.e., Pusa Mukta, Pusa Drumhead and September Early. The developed harvester had a working width of 0.6 m and when operated at a forward speed of 0.25 m/s, the actual field capacity and field efficiency were found to be 0.029 ha/h and 54.86%, respectively. The maximum value of cutting efficiency was found to be 80% for Pusa Mukta variety. The maximum instantaneous power consumption for cutting, pushing, conveying and propelling was found to be 948.53 W. Economic analysis of the developed harvester was carried out and it was found that operational cost was 26.85% lower than traditional harvesting method. The break-even point of the developed cabbage harvester was calculated as 6.43 ha/year. Graphical Abstracthttps://doi.org/10.1007/s44279-025-00156-0Break-even analysisCabbage harvestingCutting qualityElectric agri-machineryField capacityField testing |
| spellingShingle | Pranay Sarkar Hifjur Raheman Arjya Utkalini Sahoo Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms Discover Agriculture Break-even analysis Cabbage harvesting Cutting quality Electric agri-machinery Field capacity Field testing |
| title | Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms |
| title_full | Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms |
| title_fullStr | Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms |
| title_short | Field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms |
| title_sort | field performance evaluation and economic analysis of an electric cabbage harvester suitable for small farms |
| topic | Break-even analysis Cabbage harvesting Cutting quality Electric agri-machinery Field capacity Field testing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s44279-025-00156-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pranaysarkar fieldperformanceevaluationandeconomicanalysisofanelectriccabbageharvestersuitableforsmallfarms AT hifjurraheman fieldperformanceevaluationandeconomicanalysisofanelectriccabbageharvestersuitableforsmallfarms AT arjyautkalinisahoo fieldperformanceevaluationandeconomicanalysisofanelectriccabbageharvestersuitableforsmallfarms |