Background:
Harvesting/ collection of seeds is one of the most tedious and labour intensive works in tropical grass seeds production programs. Manual collection of seed from the field results in 1-2 kg/day collection that makes operation very slow and increases the cost of seed. In spite of pressing demand in different national programs, only a few organizations are currently engaged grass seed production programs. Mechanization of seed harvesting can make the whole process more profitable and increase the availability of grass seed:
Technology Details:
ICAR-IGFRI has developed the technology “Grass seed harvester” in collaboration with ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal which can be employed to collect the seed from the standing crop in the field where the tractor can operate. This is a suitable machine for rangelands/ large fields bearing the grasses and seeds on the matured crop. Tractor-operated grass seed harvester increases the capacity of collection of matured grass seed from the standing crop and decreases the cost of operation as well as the cost of seeds. It also saves manual power in the collection of seeds. With the increased availability of seeds, it may also increase the export potential of grass seed which is in demand.