Labour-saving rice harvester
As more and more people are leaving the rural areas to search for employment in the urban centres, the problem of finding enough people to work at labour-intensive times, such as harvesting, is increasing. Realizing that this was the case with rice harvesting, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in collaboration with the Silsoe Research Institute in the UK, developed a new harvester, especially designed for smallscale farmers. Working in rice fields less than half a hectare in size, the Stripper Gatherer (SG) can harvest four tonnes of rice grain in eight hours using twenty-four litres of gasoline. The machine, as it progresses, combs the grain from the straw and collects it in a container, leaving 90%. of the straw in the field. The full container can be quickly changed allowing the harvesting to continue, while the collected material is threshed and cleaned in a separate thresher. By adding an inorganic nitrogen source such as urea, the straw left in the field can substitute directly for up to 50'. of the nitrogen fertilizer requirement, acting as a valuable fertilizer and soil conditioner. Costing US$ 1,800 (less the engine) the SG harvester is not designed for sale to small-scale producers, but is primarily intended for contract operation. When used in this way it can pay for itself in under 60 days of harvesting. Since January 1993, when the designs were first released to manufacturers and national agencies in developing countries nearly 30 of these machines have been built, and a further 30 are on order for delivery to countries including Côte d'lvoire, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea. Paul M Icamina IRRl lnformation Center, PO Box 933 Manila 1099. PHILIPPINES
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
1995
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/47045 http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta56e/ |
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