Development of measurement system for grain loss of some chickpea varieties

Abstract

Grain loss is one of the most significant problems encountered during chickpea harvest. Scientific studies to increase chickpea production are focused on decreasing grain loss and increasing revenues. In Turkey, large quantities of chickpea crop fall to the ground and therefore are lost when harvesting using the combine harvester. In this study, a measurement method was developed to determine the grain loss of some widely produced chickpea types in Turkey, Hisar, Yaşa-5, Azkan and Işık-5, and tested for precision. This study consisted of two stages: the first stage included designing and developing a laboratory type measurement method using sensors and software; in the second stage, the precision of the method was tested for Hisar, Yaşa-05, Azkan and Işık-5 chickpea varieties in three different moisture contents and five different feeding rates (10g chickpea grain, 30g stalk mixture; 20g chickpea grain, 60g stalk mixture; 30g chickpea grain, 90g stalk mixture; 40g chickpea grain, 120g stalk mixture; and 50g chickpea grain, 150g stalk mixture). According to our results, the increase in the mixture ratio associated with the chickpea grain impact value leads to a decrease in the threshold value. The precision of the method was determined as 90% for all threshold values defined according to the chickpea impact value among all chickpea varieties and mixture ratios. Additionally, it was determined that the change in the moisture content is an accelerant for the threshold value defined according to the chickpea impact value.