Document Type : Research Paper

Abstract

Two types of paddy combine harvester (head-feed and whole-crop) are commonly available in different widths in developed countries. The use of combine harvesters can greatly decrease labor costs and efficiency. Combine harvesters have been introduced in several East Asian countries (China, Japan, South Korea) to decrease costs, but their technical and economic performance has not yet been studied. The current study examined three combine harvesters with different mechanisms and widths: Iseki (2 rows, head-feed; Japan), Kukje (3 rows, head-feed, South Korea); Jiangsu (whole-crop, China). The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that there were significant differences between treatments for field efficiency, loss, feed rate, theoretical and effective field capacity, and cost per ha. There was no significant difference in slippage among the combine harvesters. The whole-crop combine had the highest rate of loss at 1.74% (excluding natural loss) and soil compaction. The whole-crop combined cost per ha was lowest at 1.3873 million rials. It can be concluded that the whole-crop combine performed the best of the tested combines.

Keywords

Aghagolzadeh, H.  2008. Test report of head feed combine (model 4LZ-2. 0). Center of Development and Technology of Haraz Area. (in Farsi) 
Alizadeh, M. 2001. Survey of losses in rice harvesting methods. Final Report. No. 80.662. Rice Research Institute of IRAN. (in Farsi)
Anon. 1997. Terminology for Combines and Grain Harvesting. ASAE S343.3. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
Behroozi-Lar, M. 2000. Principles of Design of Agricultural Machinery. Scientific Publish Center of Islamic Azad University Pub. (in Farsi)
Culpin, C. 1986. Farm Machinery. William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. U. K. 
Ehdaee, B. 1990. General Statistic. Shahid Chamran University Pub. (in Farsi)
Hasanjani, H., Hoseini, M., Khademolhosaini, N. and Alizadeh, M. 2007. Evaluation of harvesting methods of rice in Giluan provience. J. Agric.. 9(1): 23-38. 
Pradhan, S. C., Biswajit, R., Das, D. K. and Mahapatra, M. 1998. Evaluation of various paddy harvesting methods in Orissa, India. Agric. Mech. Asia Africa. Latin America (AMA). 29(2): 35-38.
Renpu, B. 1999. Mechanization and industrialization about rice production in China. Agric. Mech. China. 164, 4-9. 
Roy, S. K., Jusoff, K., Ismail, W. I. W. and Ahmad, D. 2001. Performance Evaluation of a combine harvester in Malaysian paddy field. Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN) Penang Meeting. Aug.
20-22. University Science Malaysia. Penang. Malaysia.
Soltani, Gh. R. 1992. Engineering Economy. Shiraz University Pub. (in Farsi)
Vicha, M., Kastsunobu, G. and Yoshiaki, G. 1992. Performance test of rice combine harvesters. Kasetsart J. Nat. Sci.  26(5): 97-102. 
Yiyuan, J. 2003. Combine harvesting mechanization for rice and wheat in China. Proceedings of the International Conference on Crop Harvesting and Processing. Feb. 9-11. Louisville. Kentucky. USA.