This document summarizes the performance evaluation of an intermittent rice reaper. The reaper was tested on plots ranging from 10-103 square meters. The reaper achieved a field capacity of 155-836 square meters per hour, compared to manually harvesting rates of 302-857 square meters per hour. Harvesting costs per hectare were Tk. 4032 for the reaper and Tk. 9600 for manual harvesting, providing a net savings of Tk. 4398 per hectare using the reaper. The time to harvest one hectare was 24 hours using the reaper versus 180 hours manually. The conclusions were that the reaper was 7.5 times faster and had a 11.2 times higher field capacity than manual harvesting.

1. WELCOME

2. Performance Evaluation of Intermittent Reaper and
Development of a New Reaper
Supervisor
Prof. Md. Ruhul Amin
Hon’ble Vice-chancellor,
HSTU, Dinajpur.
Co-Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin
Sarker
Dept. of Agricultural and Industrial
Engineering
Project Title

3. Presenter
RAMANI KANTA BARMAN
Student ID. 1107049
Session: 2011
MD. MAKSUDUR RAHMAN
Student ID. 1107076
Session: 2011
MD. ABU AYUB SIDDIQUE
Student ID. 1107064
Session: 2011

4. INTRODUCTION

5.  Rice is one of the leading cereal crops in the world.
 Annual production of rice was 749.1 million tones with 154 million hectares of
cultivable lands under the 113 countries in the world (FAO, 2015).
 About 12.25 million hectares were under the cultivation of rice in Bangladesh
that was 88% of the gross cropped land of the country (BBS, 2014).
 In Bangladesh, traditional harvesting is done by labors with sickle
 Laborious,
 Costly
 Time consuming and
 Greater post-harvest losses
 So, suitable machinery specially for harvesting machinery is crying need to
develop and introduce for mechanization.

6. Sl. No. Name of the machines Quantity
01. Power tiller 3,50,000
02. Tractor 40,000
03. Seeder 2,000
04. Weeder 2,00,000
05. Fertilizer applicator 8,500
06. Sprayer 12,50,000
07. Reaper 50
08. Combine harvester 100
09. Power thresher 2,00,000
10. Maize seller 2,000
Present status of farm machinery used in crop production (IFDC, 2013)
07. Reaper 50

7. Types of Reaper
1. Power tiller
2. Self-propelled
Manufacturers and Dealers of Reaper
1. ACI
2. ALIM Industries Ltd.
3. Solar vision
4. BARI reaper
5. BAU reaper
6. Metal Industries Ltd.

8. 55%
12%
3%
15%
3% 7%
Availability of reaper
Dhaka
Rangpur
khulna
Rajshahi
Sylhet
Barishal
The percentages of reaper in different division of Bangladesh
Figure: Percentage of reaper available in different divisions (Brishti, 2014)

9. Availability of reaper in different divisions of Bangladesh (Brishti, 2014)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Dhaka Rajshahi Khulna Barishal Sylhet Rangpur
Available reaper
Working
Not Working

10. Objectives of the Study
The main objective was to evaluate the performance of an intermittent reaper.
Specific Objectives
In view of the above discussion, the present research work was carried out with the
following specific objectives:
• To select an intermittent reaper
• To select suitable crop and land for harvesting
• To study the performance of reaper for the selected crop
• To identify the problems and prospects of reaper in harvesting
• To analyze collected data
• To modify an intermittent reaper for easy operation

11. MATERIALS AND METHODS

12. Experimental Site
The research work was carried out in the research field under Hajee Mohammad Danesh
Science and Technology University. The field experiment was carried out during Aman
season.

13. Materials
Figure: ACI intermittent reaper

14. Specification of an intermittent reaper
Engine model 1E40F
Engine type Air-cooled, 2 stroke, single cylinder petrol
Engine power 1.25kw/7000r/min(2hp)
Carburetor Diaphragm Type
Starting method Manually drawing wound rope
Fuel tank capacity (Lit) 1.2
Ratio of fuel and lubricant 30:1
Type Hand-type Harvester
Power source Petrol
circular saw blade diameter (cm) 25
Metal plate height (cm) 11
Shaft length (mm) 1670
Shaft diameter (mm) 28
Shaft thickness (mm) 2
Color red
Weight (kg) 9.2
Engine type Air-cooled, 2 stroke, single cylinder
petrol
Engine power 1.25kw, 7000rpm(2hp)
Weight (kg) 9.2

15. 7.9 m
13.1 m
Figure-1: Plot size harvested by reaper Figure-2: Plot size harvested by manually
Operation Time and Cutting Area
13.1m×7.9m (103.49m2) area =40 minutes (1 labour by reaper)
34m×20m (680m2) area =2.3 hours (12 labours manually)

16. Fuel Consumption
Fuel consumption was calculated by using standard method as follows
Fc=
𝐪
𝐭
Where,
Fc = Fuel consumption (Lit./hr.)
q = Quantity of fuel consumed (Lit.)
t = Consumption time (min)
Effective Field Capacity
By using the following formula field capacity and field efficiency were calculated
C=
𝐀
𝐓
Where,
C = field capacity (ha/hr.)
T = total time for the reaping operation (hr.)
A= area of land reaped at specified time (ha)

17. Theoretical Field Capacity
Theoretical field capacity, computed based on the forward speed and the cutting width of
reaper.
TFC=
𝐒𝐖
𝐂
Where,
TFC = Theoretical field capacity (ha/hr.)
W = Cutting width (m)
S = Operating speed (km/hr.)
C = Constant, 10
Effective Field Efficiency
Field efficiency is defined as the ratio of the actual field capacity and theoretical field
capacity, expressed in percent
Ef =
𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲
×100
Where,
Ef = Field Efficiency (%)
EFC = Effective field capacity (ha/hr.)
TFC = Theoretical field capacity (ha/hr.)

18. Harvesting Cost (Fixed cost + Variable cost)
Fixed cost
1. Depreciation was determined by straight-line method by the following equation
D=
𝐏−𝐒
𝐋
Where,
D = Mean yearly depreciation (Tk./year)
P = Purchase value (Tk.)
S = Salvage value (Tk.)
L = Useful life (year)
2. Interest is an actual cost in agricultural machinery and was determined by straight line
method by the following equation
I=
𝐏+𝐒
𝟐
×i
Where,
I = Interest on investment (Tk./yr.)
P = Purchase value (Tk.)
S = Salvage value (Tk.)
i = interest rate (%)

19. Fixed cost was calculated as
FC = Depreciation + Interest on investment + Tax, insurance and shelter
Break-even Area
The break-even area in which the harvesting cost per unit area is equal for machine
and manual was determined by the following equation (Alizadeh et al., 2007).
B=
𝐅
Va −Vm
Where,
B = Break-even point (ha/year)
F = Fixed cost of machine (Tk./year)
Va = Variable costs of manual method (Tk./ha)
Vm= Variable costs for machinery method (Tk./ha)

20. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

21. Field Performance
The field capacity ranged from 155.235 to 836.56 m2/hr. with an average of 435.53 m2/hr.
(0.348 ha/day). The fuel consumption was recorded 0.755 litter/hr. of petrol.
Figure-1:Field operation by an intermittent reaper Figure-2: After harvesting by intermittent reaper

22. Performance test of intermittent reaper
Plot
No.
Length
(m)
Wide
(m)
Area
(m2)
Fuel
consump
tion
( lit/hr)
Average
fuel
consumption
(lit/hr)
Field
capacity
(m2 /hr.)
Field
capacity
(ha/hr)
Average
(ha/hr)
01 8.1 1.75 14.175 0.71 836.56 0.08
02 8.1 1.3 10.53 0.82 0.755 344.62 0.04 0.05
03 8.1 1.6 12.96 0.78 405.7 0.04
04 13.1 7.9 103.49 0.71 155.24 0.02
0.050.755

23. Performance test by manually harvested plot
Plot No. Length
(m)
Wide
(m)
Area
(m2)
Field
capacity
(m2/hr )
Field
capacity
(ha/man hr)
Average
(ha/man hr)
01 36.57 25.91 947.52 411.08 0.04
02 34 20 680 302.22 0.03 0.0067
03 55.17 53.64 2959.10 857.71 0.09
0.0067

24. Harvesting Cost
Estimated total cost of intermittent reaper and manual harvesting
Machine harvesting cost Manual harvesting cost
Cost items (Tk./year) (Tk./hr) (Tk./ha) (Tk./ha) (Tk.hr)
Fixed cost
Depreciation
Interest
Taxes, insurance and
shelter
Total fixed cost
Variable cost
Fuel
Oil
Labor
Repair and maintenance
Total variable cost
1080
792
300
2172
21.72
75.5
2.3
75
1.2
154
498
1733
53
1721
28
3354
Considered 32
nos. of labors
required/ha
37.5
Total cost of harvesting 175.72 4032 9600 37.5
40329600Total cost of harvesting

25. Comparison of savings by the intermittent reaper with manually harvesting ( /ha)
Particulars Calculation Amount (Tk.)
Cost of manual harvesting (32 man days ) 32×300 9600
Cost of machine harvesting 4032 4032
Gross savings 9600−4032 5568
Cost of total output (5000 kg/ha @ 18Tk. )* 18×5000 90000
Loss in reaper harvesting, (2.3%) 9000×0.023 2070
Loss in manual harvesting (1%) 90000×0.01 900
Excess loss due to reaper harvesting 2070−900 1170
The net savings per hectare 5568−1170 4398
*Considered the production of paddy 5 tons per hectare
The net savings per hectare 4398

26. Comparison of time between intermittent reaper and manual harvesting
Reaper( including labor for binding and collecting) (hr./ha) 24
Manual ( hr./ha) 180
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5
HARVESTINGCOST(TK./HA)
reaper
manual
Area (ha)
Break-even Area
24
180
0.4
0.4

27. CONCLUSION

28. The experimental results shows that
 Time consumption 7.5 times faster per hectare than
the manually
 Field capacity 11.2 times more per hectare than the
manually
 The net saving 4398 Tk./ha
Next research is to modify an intermittent reaper
to make farmer’s friendly.