Chickpea is one of the important protein and calorie rich food legume crops which may meet part of the nutrient needs of India. One of the ways to increase the availability of chick pea is to reduce threshing loss. Breakage of seeds occurs when amechanical thresher with steel loops or raspbars or pegteeth beaters on cylinder are used. Force and energy required to detach the pedicel and break the pod under dynamic condition are taken as criteria in selecting the type of beater configuration to beused on cylinder based on minimum force and energy. Plastic (polyethylene) covered pegteeth and wire loops were selected and their performance was evaluated on two varieties of chick pea at three different levels of moisture content. A pendulum-typeimpactor was used to measure shear force and energy to detach pedicel and break pod in dynamic condition while an Instron Testing Machine was used to measure tensile force and energy to detach pedicel and compressive force and energy to break pod inquasi-static condition. Trends of force and energy show no definite advantage of one type of beater over other type. Force and energy required in quasi-static conditions are several times greater than dynamic condition.
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