Efficiency of Mechanical Thresher over Traditional Method of Threshing Finger Millet

The research was conducted on efficiency of mechanical thresher over traditional method of threshing finger millet. Finger millet (Eleusine Coracana Craertn) commonly known as ragi is one of the important small millet crop grown in red soil areas of India. It is predominantly cultivated in southern parts of Karnataka. The process of seed damage starts right from harvest to storage. The traditional methods of threshing are tedious time consuming and inefficient in operation. The experiment was conducted with two ragi varieties (MR1 and HR911). Hence, mechanical threshing is a means to overcome the above problems. So as to evaluate the performance efficiency of mechanical thresher over traditional method of threshing finger millet and optimum threshing parameters for finger millet. Some of the important parameters which influence the threshing efficiency, mechanical damage, moisture content, threshing cylinder speed, feeding rate and concave clearance. The method of threshing was experimented at three different moisture content levels of ragi [around 18 to 19, 13 to 15 and 10% (w.b.)]. The mechanical ragi thresher has given the maximum grains output of 140.5 kg/h for variety MR1 and 130.3 kg/h for variety for HR911 as compared to traditional threshing methods.