A Study on Effectiveness and Suitability of Different Types of Combine Harvesters in Ampara District

Abstract

The study attempted to analyze the impact of using different types of combine harvesters namely Balkar, Standard, Claas and Agrotech for harvesting paddy on timeliness, harvesting cost and labour use and evaluate effectiveness and suitability of combine harvesters in Ampara District. The major reason given for the use of combine harvester was severe shortage of labour during the peak season. The primary data needed to this study were gathered through a survey from 61 farmers and 62 owners of combine harvesters. A descriptive evaluation and analysis were carried out to identify the objectives. The analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to find out the suitability and effectiveness of combine harvesters. The results shows combine harvesters ensure rapid harvesting, reduces harvesting cost, minimize the labour requirement and raises the farmer’s income as well as machine owner’s profit. The combine harvesters replaced the labour by 75 to 85 %, reduced the harvesting cost by 50%. The negative aspects of using combine harvesters were also reported as displacement of labours, low quality paddy, climatic and soil constrains for the tyre type harvesters than the chain types, non availability of local technical supports and the difficulties in fixing charges due to competitions. However it could be shows that the prospects for using combine harvesters for harvesting paddy is becoming popular in the Ampara district. According to the analysis in Ampara district different types of soils are available and the results finding will suggest, that, chain type combine harvesters can work in clay and pours soils but the tyre harvesters can only better in sandy soils. So the farmers have to be clear on using the combine harvesters regarding to the field condition and climate. With proper technical support, practical demonstration and appropriate training program in using combine harvesters will enhance the profit of the farmers as well as machine owners can be increased.