Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Multi-purpose farming device developed by students

A NOVEL SOLUTION: Students of the Sarabhai Institute of Science and Technology, Vellanad, with the multi-purpose agricultural machine that they have developed.

Thiruvananthapuram: Farmers in several parts of the state are turning to mechanised operations as a solution to the problem of shortage of labour. But the absence of a machine that can substitute manual labour in small farms and gardens remains a daunting problem.

The machines available in the market are designed for big farms and as such, are too heavy, cumbersome and expensive to operate in small landholdings.

A group of eighth semester students of the Sarabhai Institute of Science and Technology at Vellanad near here claims to have come up with a solution to the problem.

The students, S.N. Nisanth, K.R. Nair, C. Aneesh Chandran, Rahul Sidharthan and Arfan A. Ayub, have developed a multi-purpose agricultural machine that can do several operations in gardens and small farms.

Based on a scooter engine, the machine can perform several operations like grass cutting, digging, pumping, trimming and circular (saw) cutting on different terrain.

The students claim that the scooter engine was selected for its specific power output suitable for small farm operations. Delivering less than one HP, the engine is more fuel- efficient and user- friendly compared to other heavy machines.

The output shaft of the engine was coupled to a gear box to change the RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) of the grass cutting shaft. A flexible drive was used for digging and a cutting tool was attached to it.

To pump water, the machine uses a belt drive system.

The machine is equipped with three wheels, two fixed and one flexible, for easy operation and tight turning. A mud guard and sheet metal covering have been provided for protection and looks. A headlight was added to make night- time operation possible. The machine was fabricated at a local workshop.

According to project guide A.Sreekumar, an automobile engine offered the right choice for small farming operations. “All the machines available today are based on engines of 30 HP or more. Moreover, they are single purpose machines”, he points out.

The project team is now planning to incorporate a harvester into the same machine.

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