Design of agricultural equipment for the marginal rice farmers: A solution for transplanting and harvesting of rice


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Creator/Artist: Midhun K. M.

Category: Product Design

Document: P3 Project

Batch: 2013-2015

Source: India,   IDC IIT Bombay

Period:  2009-2018

Medium: Report pdf

Supervisor: Prof. G. G. Ray & Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralph Bruder


Detailed Description

The current project is a continuation of the work carried out to identify the problems associated with the marginal farming community in Kerala. In this part of the project, the focus is on providing solutions to the issues. The various design opportunities are studied based on the needs of the user group, and the need to sustain marginal rice farming communities by maximising profit is taken forward. The solution proposes a conceptual machine that is economically viable to operate in marginal-sized land holdings to carry out the transplanting and harvesting of rice, which are the most intensive activities in rice farming. The solution also focuses on various factors such as safety, comfort, and efficiency for improving the productivity of farm activities while addressing the need to sustain marginal rice farming. Along with the conceptual machine, the project concludes with a note on the system-level design based on the context of the user group for which the solution is designed.