ASHOKSURAJ B.S., SRINIVAS YARRAKULA, K.N. HANUMANTHARAJU AND ABDUL REHMAN
Abstract
Potato, after corn, rice, and wheat, is the worldââ¬â¢s fourth most major food crop, producing 321 MT on 19.5 million hectares. Potato cultivation covers 1.86 million hectares in India. Potatoes are a labor-intensive crop. It is currently facing a labour shortage. The harvesting of potato tubers is the most important aspect of potato cultivation. An Animal-drawn potato digger has been developed to reduce drudgery and labour when harvesting potato tubers. The performance of the potato digger was evaluated in the field with soil moisture content of 8% (db), bulk density of 1.38 g/cc. The implement has a field capacity of 0.16 ha/h with field efficiency 85 per cent and turning losses 5.7 per cent when the harvesting of potato was done using the developed digger as the 5 per cent of the harvested potato was damaged and 4.7 per cent were left within the soil. For its efficient operation, this implement can be widely adopted by potato farmers, and it is best suited for small and marginal farmers.