Abstract

Jute provides employment to 40 million farmers and 0.2 million workers in factories in India. Weeding and pesticide spraying are serious problems in the crop due to scattered germination and higher planting density, owing to the absence of effective planting mechanisms, which increase the cost of production and decrease the yield and quality. The current research relates to a self-propelled seed drill, derived from rural load carrier (RLC), which comprises of a self propelled device and a seed drill body. The machine was designed and developed to sow jute seed considering agronomic and ergonomic considerations. RLC used a 3.94 kW diesel engine allowing field work forward speed of 1.9 to 2.8 and 6 to 8.3 kmh^-1 for rural transportation. The control levers were placed in accordance with the anthropometric data of the user population. Around 67% germination and plant establishment was found with the developed seed drill. The effective field capacity at the mean speed of 2.1 kmh^-1 being 0.23 hah^-1 and fuel consumption was 1.4 Lh^-1. Ergonomic measured data also proved the suitability of the machine for rural workers with higher cost effectiveness.

Key words: Jute, self propelled seed drill, rural load carrier, mechanical design considerations, workplace.