Techno-economic feasibility of manually operated maize (Zea Mays L.) sheller

Abstract

Traditionally, shelling was done by removing kernels with the help of fingers or with any tool like sickle which is very time consuming and tedious. Maize shelling technique is practiced since long time for various purposes like seed, poultry and human consumption. Thus, on industrial scale, large shelling machines are used which may cost more to be used by small and marginal farmers. For farmers having average cultivated land only 3 to 5 acres of land for cultivation, industrial maize sheller is not beneficial for them to use. Also, the rural area faces some electricity problems till today. Maize in Indian economy also has a good representation as maize cultivation, value addition and marketing in the country involves 1000-million-man days and contributes more than 9% to Indian food basket. The hand operated maize sheller was tested for its performance and economics feasibilities in term of machine capacity (%) shelling efficiency (%), damaged grain (%), unshelled grains (%), operational cost of machine, BC ratio and payback period. The capacity of machine when manually operated was 47.03 kg/h. The shelling efficiency, damaged grain and unshelled grain were 94.20%, 0.11% and 5.30% respectively. The operational cost of machine was 53.22 Rs/h. The benefit cost ratio and payback period were 6.11 and the break-even point was 155.53 kg as term of shelling and 0.163 year. Hand operated rotary maize sheller has been found suitable for small and marginal farmers for shelling maize, especially for seed purposes.