Abstract
Onions are cultivated in various regions of India across two to three growing seasons. Ensuring a timely harvest of the onion crop is essential for securing optimal market prices. Delayed harvesting can lead to increased losses due to factors like rain, especially during peak harvest periods. Typically, onion harvesting has been a manual task undertaken by small and medium-sized farmers in Chhattisgarh, India. However, due to the labor-intensive, monotonous, and costly nature of manual harvesting, a tractor-powered onion digger was conceptualised, developed, and subjected to evaluation. This innovative digger comprised distinct units, including a digging mechanism, separator, windrower, and transmission unit. The necessary power to operate this onion digger was calculated to be 14.04 kW. An experimental study was undertaken to optimise various parameters, specifically the rake angles (15°, 20°, and 25°) of the V-shaped blade and forward speeds (2.0, 2.5, and 3.5 km/h), concerning essential harvesting factors (such as damage percentage, harvesting efficiency, and separation index) attributed to the developed machine. Remarkably, the harvesting efficiency peaked at 97.02% when utilising a 20° rake angle for the blade at a forward speed of 2.0 km/h. The harvesting of onions with a developed onion digger was also found to be more cost-effective than manual harvesting.
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