NEW HARVESTING DEVICE FOR SOYBEANS

摘要

This study is part of a major project to develop a new and simplified concept of a soybean harvester. The prototype threshes soybeans from standing, uncut plants using impact energy provided by plastic fingers mounted on opposite rotating shafts, and uses a pneumatic system for capturing, separating, cleaning, and transporting the beans. Compared to a conventional combine, the prototype harvested significantly better seeds with respect to their physical characteristics such as broken/split beans, material other than grain, discardable small seeds, and good seeds. Physiological characteristics such as seeds vigor, germination, and seed coat rupture were also significantly better in the prototype samples, while invisible mechanical damages were not statistically different between the prototype and conventionally combined samples. The overall results raised the level of enthusiasm for further development of the new and simplified soybean harvester.