1. KAUTIR (Kerala Agricultural University Theses Information and Retrieval)
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Item Design fabrication and testing of an arecanut dehusker(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology,Tavanur, 1993) Febi Varghese; Jippu JacobA power operated arecanut dehusker is designed, developed and its performance evaluated. The major parts are the hopper, feeder, lead plate, cutting blade, shearing roller, friction plate and scraper. The feeder receives the graded fruit from the hopper and delivers it on the lead plate. The fruit is compressed between the rotating shearing roller and the lead plate. The teeth on the roller peel off the husk and the kernel is ejected out through the slot on the lead plate and the husk removed. A single phase 0.5 hp motor operates the machine. From the studies, the optimum set - up of the machine for deriving maximum dehusking efficiency and Iower percentage of the number kernels damaged is at a speed of 35 rpm, blade angle of 600 and slot angle of 1400. At this set - up the machine gives an output of 9.0 kg dried fruit/h, with 84.5 per cent dehusking efficiency.Item Economic analysis of production, marketing and price bahaviour of nutmeg in Kerala(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Reshama Sara Sabu; Anil KuruvilaItem Economic analysis of production, marketing and prices of arecanut in Kasargod district of Kerala(Department of Agricultural Economics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2018) Janeesa, K P; Anil KuruvilaArecanut is an important plantation crop grown in India, mainly by the small and marginal farmers. India is one among the leading producers of arecanut with an area of 4.55 lakh hectares and a production of 7.25 lakh tonnes in 2016-17. The study entitled “Economic analysis of production, marketing and prices of arecanut in Kasaragod district of Kerala” was conducted with the objectives of analysing the time series properties and formation of prices, estimating the economics and efficiency of arecanut production, identifying the marketing channels and the price spread in different channels and finding out the major constraints in production and marketing of arecanut in Kasaragod district of Kerala. The study was based on both primary and secondary data. The study was conducted in Kasaragod district, which has the largest area under arecanut cultivation in Kerala. Primary data was collected from 100 farmers, randomly selected from two blocks in the district. The data was also collected from 20 market intermediaries including wholesalers, retailers and Central Arecanut Marketing and Processing Co-operative Society (CAMPCO). Trend analysis revealed that area, production and productivity of arecanut in India exhibited increasing trend during the period from 1980-81 to 2015-16. Time series data on area, production and productivity of arecanut in Kerala over the years from 1980-81 to 2015-16 showed an increasing trend with regular ups and downs. Export and import of arecanut have also shown an increasing trend, both in quantity and value terms. The price behavior of ripe and dry arecanut in major markets of Kerala viz., Nedumangad, Telicherry, Kanhangad and Kozhikode were analyzed by decomposing the monthly prices into four components viz., trend, seasonal, cyclical and irregular variations, assuming a multiplicative model of time series. The prices of arecanut showed increasing trend in these markets. While analysing the seasonal variation, it was noticed that arecanut prices showed considerable seasonality. The increasing phase for ripe arecanut prices was observed from March to May, while for dry arecanut, the highest price was observed during April, May and November in Nedumangad, Calicut and Kanhangad markets respectively. Co-integration analysis of arecanut prices in the above markets revealed that the markets were cointegrated. Since arecanut is a perennial crop, its yielding phase was assumed to be 50 years, with a non-bearing phase of five years. The costs and returns were estimated by accounting the establishment and maintenance costs separately. The establishment cost was found to be ₹3,43,386 per hectare and the annual maintenance costs were ₹ 2,13,075, ₹ 2,06,925 and ₹1,58,608 per hectare in yield increasing, yield stabilising and yield declining phases respectively. The cost of cultivation per hectare of the crop was estimated as ₹ 2.67 lakh, while the net return was ₹ 1.30 lakh. It was found that human labour contributed 75 per cent of the total cost of cultivation. The average cost of production in the yielding phase was estimated as ₹ 150 per kg. To evaluate the resource use efficiency in arecanut cultivation, Cobb-Douglas production function was fitted. Plant protection chemicals and human labour were found to be significantly contributing towards the yield. The elastic coefficient for women labour charges was -0.13 indicating that the increase in expenditure on labour by one percent from the mean level. Moreover, a decreasing returns to scale in arecanut production was observed in the study area. The most common marketing channel identified in the study area was channel I (Producer- village trader- wholesaler- retailer- consumers). Even though marketing efficiency was highest in channel III (Producer- CAMPCO- retailers - consumers), farmers preferred channel I over channel III because of the immediate payment. Marketing costs were found to be ₹ 33.9, ₹ 29.44 and ₹ 28.44 per kg in channel I, II and channel III respectively. The highest price spread of ₹ 58.9 per kg was estimated in channel I, while it was lowest (44.94 per kg) in Channel III. Various constraints in production and marketing of arecanut were identified and ranked using Garret’s ranking technique. Among the various constraints faced by farmers in production, scarcity of skilled labour for harvesting and spraying, water scarcity, occurrence of pests and diseases were the major ones. Price fluctuation was the foremost constraint faced in marketing of arecanut. In order to tackle these constraints, mechanization of operations, value addition through product diversification, promoting the use of warehousing facilities and warehouse receipts as negotiable instruments for getting credit and strengthening market intelligence were recommended for ensuring better and stable prices for farmers.Item Investigations on clamping and climbing mechanisms for the design of semi autonomous areca palm climber(Department of Farm Power Machinery and Energy, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2017) Supritha; Shivaji, K PPalms are un-branched evergreen trees cultivated mainly for its nuts and one has to climb up the tree for harvesting and other operations like spraying. Considering the difficulty and drudgery involved in this operation different types climbers were developed by researchers and innovators. These climbers essentially consist of two functional mechanisms; the clamping mechanism for gripping the unit to the trunk and climbing mechanism for vertical movement of unit. These developed palm climbers can be categorized based on the type of motion of the unit as continuous, discrete or serpentine and based on the power utilized for actuating the functional components as mechanical or robotic. Further categorization can be done based on the mechanism deployed for the actuating functional components. The biometric properties of areca palm are important for the design optimization and performance of climber. Among the quantifiable biometric properties diameter, variation of diameter along height, height and tilt angle were identified as the critical properties which has direct influence on design and operations. The diameter of areca palm determines the size of gripping unit, shape and dimensions of gripping arms or structures, their spacing and the distance through which the gripping arms are to be moved for locking and unlocking. Tilt angle is critical in optimizing the height of the climbing unit and the maximum relative movement of functional sets of components. The height of palm does not directly influence the design of the climber; it is a major parameter which affects the operation of the robotic climbers. The time required for completing the climbing is directly influenced by the height and when height increases, it will be difficult to see and operate the climber from the ground. By analyzing all these data and the past works related to mechanical and robotic climbers, their suitability and merits and demerits, a preliminary model of semi-autonomous areca palm climber was fabricated. The principle of linear actuators was adapted for the design of the climber by incorporating power screw rods and DC motors. The designed climber has two components, one was gripping unit which will provide to and fro motion to the gripping arms hence the arms grabs the tree. Another component was climbing unit which will provide up and down movement hence the climbing happens. At the beginning, the power was supplied to the lower gripping unit; by the movement of both the arms it grabs/holds the tree. Then the power was supplied to the upper gripping unit. By that both the gripping units grabs the tree trunk tightly. After that, the lower arm releases the contact and moves up by the rotation of main motor. Then lower arm holds the tree trunk, upper arm releases and moves up. This process continues until the desirable height was reached. The arms hold the entire body during climbing. During climbing part of robot was always fixed to the tree trunk. The operation of robot was controlled by wired remote controller. The prototype can be simply installed and controlled on the palm by an inexperienced operator. The device has been tested for its performance and found safe, reliable, and efficient and also reduces the problems in climbing of arecanut tree to a good extend.