Performance Evaluation of Tractor Operated Cotton Stalk Shredder Cum Uprooter

A large amount of cotton stalk is generated in India every year. Cotton stalks are burned in the fields as crop residues due to a labour shortage and high investment costs. Global warming will be caused by burning the agricultural residues in the field and also by the loss of nutrients in the stalk. Cotton residue management is thus the best solution. To shred the cotton stalk into pieces and uproot the stubble left in the field, a cotton stalk shredder and cum uprooter are used. A performance study was conducted in the cotton field. The purpose of the experiment was to assess the performance of a cotton stalk shredder cum uprooter. The performance parameters considered for the study were uprooting efficiency, power requirement, draft requirement and fuel consumption with respect to type of uprooter blade, viz., cross, sweep and curved and rake angle viz., 10o, 20o and 30o. The best results were observed for curved blade at a rake angle of 10o. The draft, power requirement, fuel consumption and uprooting efficiency were found to be 1.78 kN, 1.48 kW, 2.38 l h-1 and 99.6 per cent, respectively.