Mechanisation of Harvesting and threshing operations in rainfed crops - Issues and Strategies

摘要

Mechanisation of operations for dry land crops in general and harvesting and threshing operations in dry farming in particular, requires a special attention for achieving higher productivity to meet the future demands and challenges of food security.Appropriate and selective mechanization of the harvesting and threshing operations in dry farming through custom hiring services is needed to enhance productivity through reduced field losses: and to reduce the human drudgery and thus improving the quality of working environment for the agricultural labour. Mechanisation of these farm operations will reduce drudgery and encourage farmers to adopt these practices for increased income. The equipments developed for mechanizing harvesting and threshing of dry farming crops are enumerated in this paper. Most of these equipments are beyond the affordability of the dry land farmers. The major constfaints and issues in mechanizing the dryland farms and the strategies required for overcoming the constraints arediscussed.