Performance evaluation of self-propelled sesame harvesting cutter binder under Gedarif farming conditions, Gedarif State, Sudan

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the important oil crops in the rainfed sector of the Sudan. The crop ranks third in cultivated area after sorghum and millet. It draws its importance from its use as a food crop, a raw material for industry, feed for livestock and as a leading export crop. Mechanical harvesting of sesame is becoming extremely important in the Sudan since the hand harvest becomes more difficult to use due to the rapid expansion in areas under production and the scarcity and high cost of labour coupled with the timely operation needed at harvest. Partial to complete mechanization of sesame harvest has been tried using a variety of machines with different levels of success. The main objective of this study was to assess and evaluate an Italian cutter binder and to compare its performance with the conventional sesame manual harvesting methods. The cutter binder measured parameters were speed, field capacity, field efficiency, fuel consumption, twine consumption, bundle size, bundle drying and plant losses. Crop measurements parameters included; plant height, first capsules height from ground, cutting height and plant population. Results showed that the binder was superior to the traditional harvesting method with respect to the speed (7.8 km/hr), field capacity (5.1 fed/hr) and field efficiency (77.3). The cutter binder resulted in 0.85 L/fed fuel consumption, 223 m/fed twine consumption, 22 cm in diameter bundle size, completely dried bundle and no plant cutting losses. The binder produced very good tied bundles with the least total plant height of 70 cm from ground level, while there was no problem with plants taller than this height. This research has shown that the cutter binder was a good alternative to sesame manual harvesting methods.