EFFECT OF OPEN AIR DRYING DURATION ON SEED MOISTURE AND THE THRESHING QUALITY OF COWPEA

Authors

  • Eric Amoah Asante
  • Yongguang Hu School of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013-Chinaand
  • Rand Amuaku Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Koforidua Technical University, Koforidua, Ghana
  • Samuel Appah Abetifi College of Education, Abetifi Kwahu, Ghana
  • Yongzhong Lu School of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013-Chinaand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24297/jaa.v7i1.5923

Keywords:

Machine–crop parameter, Seed damage, seed moisture content, physical properties

Abstract

To improve on the quality of threshed cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) produce by rural farmers in Ghana, variation in the duration of drying was employed. The cowpea was divided into five units and open air dried to 16.52, 14.69, 11.38, 9.69, and 8.36 % seed moisture contents (SMC) for three (3) days, five (5) days, eight (8) days, eleven (11) days and fourteen (14) days respectively after harvesting.  The SMC effect on threshing and seed quality was assessed with a developed cowpea thresher using 334, 435, 533, 634 and 735 rpm rotor speeds. The results showed that the throughput and efficiency increase with the speed and decreasing SMC. The percentage seed damage increases as the speed and SMC increase. The cowpea at 16.52 % SMC after drying produced the highest average seed damage of 3.05 % while 8.36 % SMC yielded 1.39% average seed damage. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed showed that there were significant differences (P Ë‚ 0.01) among the throughput capacities, seed damage and threshing efficiencies. However, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the seed loss control of 9.69% and 8.36% SMC.  The minimum seed loss of 11.38%, 9.69% and 8.36% were less than the overall mean by 7.4, 20.6, and 29.4 % respectively. Therefore, the best machine–crop parameter combination for optimal grain quality is 8–10 % SMC and rotor speeds of 388–550 rpm. To achieve these SMC, the crop must be dried in the open air for a minimum of eleven (11) days at 7 hour/day.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1 Langyintuo, A. S., Lowenberg-DeBoer, J., Faye, M., Lambert, D., Ibro, G., Moussa, B., Kergna, A., Musa, S., Kushwaha, S., Ntoukam, G. 2003. Cowpea supply and demand in West and Central Africa. Field crops research. 82, 215– 231.
2 Murdock, L. L., Baoua, I. B. 2014. On Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) technology:
402 Background, mode of action, future prospects. Journal of Stored Products Research. 58, 3 – 11
3 Morad, M. M., El-Kot, A. S., Ali, M. M., Salem, H. M. 2007. Study on the Mechanization of Cowpea Crop Production under Egyptian Conditions. Misr J. Ag. Eng. Farm Machinery and Power 24(3):450 – 468.
4 Gomez, C. 2004. Cowpea Post-Harvest Operations, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Rome. 2 – 4.
1 Langyintuo, A. S., Lowenberg-DeBoer, J., Faye, M., Lambert, D., Ibro, G., Moussa, B., Kergna, A., Musa, S., Kushwaha, S., Ntoukam, G. 2003. Cowpea supply and demand in West and Central Africa. Field crops research. 82, 215– 231.
2 Murdock, L. L., Baoua, I. B. 2014. On Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) technology:
402 Background, mode of action, future prospects. Journal of Stored Products Research. 58, 3 – 11
3 Morad, M. M., El-Kot, A. S., Ali, M. M., Salem, H. M. 2007. Study on the Mechanization of Cowpea Crop Production under Egyptian Conditions. Misr J. Ag. Eng. Farm Machinery and Power 24(3):450 – 468.
4 Gomez, C. 2004. Cowpea Post-Harvest Operations, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Rome. 2 – 4.
1 Langyintuo, A. S., Lowenberg-DeBoer, J., Faye, M., Lambert, D., Ibro, G., Moussa, B., Kergna, A., Musa, S., Kushwaha, S., Ntoukam, G. 2003. Cowpea supply and demand in West and Central Africa. Field crops research. 82, 215– 231.
2 Murdock, L. L., Baoua, I. B. 2014. On Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) technology:
402 Background, mode of action, future prospects. Journal of Stored Products Research. 58, 3 – 11
3 Morad, M. M., El-Kot, A. S., Ali, M. M., Salem, H. M. 2007. Study on the Mechanization of Cowpea Crop Production under Egyptian Conditions. Misr J. Ag. Eng. Farm Machinery and Power 24(3):450 – 468.
4 Gomez, C. 2004. Cowpea Post-Harvest Operations, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Rome. 2 – 4.
5 Irtwange, S. V. 2009. Design, Fabrication and Performance of a Motorized Cowpea Thresher for Nigerian Small-Scale Farmers. African Journal of Agricultural Research 4(12):1383 – 1391.
6 Salari, K., Amiri Chayjan, R., Khazaei, J., Amiri Parian, J. 2013. Optimization of Independent Parameters for Chickpea Threshing Using Response Surface Method (RSM). J. Agr. Sci. Tech. 15, 467 – 477.
7 Adekanye, T. A., Olaoye, J. O. 2013. Performance evaluation of motorized and treadle cowpea threshers. Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal 15(4): 300-306.
8 Maunde, F.A. 2011. Performance Evaluation of Manual Cowpea Thresher, African Journal of Agricultural Research 6 (30): 6412.
9 Fulani, A. U., Kuje J. Y., Mohammed, B. I. 2013. Effect of Moisture Content on Performance of a Locally Fabricated Cowpea Thresher. Department of Agricultural Engineering. College of Agriculture. Lafia, Nigeria 2(5):1 – 2.
10 Olaoye JO (2011) Development of a Treadle Operated Abrasive-Cylinder for Threshing Cowpea. International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, (IJEST) 3(12):8548 – 8549.
11 Kepner RA, Bainer R, Barger EL (1978) Principles of Farm Machinery, (3rd Edition). AVI Publishing
12 Sharma, K. D., Devnani, R. S. 1980. Threshing studies on soybean and cowpea. A.M.A. 65 – 68.
13 Herbek, J. H., Bitzer, M. J. 2004. Soybean production in Kentucky: part V- Harvesting, drying, storage, and marketing. Lexington, Ky.: Cooperative Extension Service Bulletin AGR 132.
14 Sudajan, S., Salokhea, V. M., Triratanasirichai, K. 2002. Effect of Type of Drum, Drum Speed and Feed Rate on Sunflower Threshing. Biosystems. Eng. 83(4):413 – 421.
15 Ajav, E. A., Adejumo, B. A. 2005. Performance Evaluation of an Okra Thresher. Agric. Eng. Int. 7, 1 – 8.
16 Vejasit, A., Salokhe, V. M. 2004. Studies on Machine-Crop Parameters of an Axial Flow Thresher for Threshing Soybean. Agric. Eng. Int. Paper No. 04 004. 12.
17 Ukatu, A. C. 2006. A Modified Threshing Unit for Soya Beans, Biosystems Engineering, 95 (3): 371–377.
18 Altuntas, E., Yıldız, M. 2007. Effect of moisture content on some physical and mechanical properties of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) grains Journal of Food Engineering. 78, 174–183. doi.org/10.1016/j.j foodeng.2005.09.013
19 Baryeh, E. A., Mangope, B. K. 2002. Some physical properties of QP-38 variety pigeon pea. Journal of Food Engineering 56; 59–65.
20 Srivastava, A. K., Mahoney, W.T., West, N. L. 1990. The effect of crop properties on combine performance ASAE Paper. 63–67
21 Al-Mahasneh, M. A., Rababah, T. M. 2007. Effect of moisture content on some physical properties of green wheat. Journal of Food Engineering 79, 1467–1473. doi:10.1016/j. jfoodeng. 2006.04.045.
22 Ogunjimi, L. A. O., Aviara, N. A., Aregbesola, O. A. 2002. Some engineering properties of locust bean seed. Journal of Food Engineering 55 (2): 95–99.
23 Razavi, S. M. A., Amini, A. M., Rafe, A., Emadzadeh, B. 2007. The physical properties of pistachio nut and its kernel as a function of moisture content and variety. Part III: Frictional properties. Journal of Food Engineering, 81, 226–235. doi:10.1016/j. jfoodeng.2006.10.025.
24 Yalcın, I. 2007. Physical properties of cowpea, (Vigna sinensis L.) seed. Journal of Food Engineering 79, 57–62. doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2006.01.026.
25 Addo-Quaye, A. A., Darkwa, A. A., Ampiah, M. K. P. 2011. Performance of three cowpea (vigna unguiculata (l) walp) varieties in two agro-ecological zones of the central region of Ghana I: Dry matter production and growth analysis. ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science 6(2): 1 – 9.

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2017-03-20

How to Cite

Asante, E. A., Hu, Y., Amuaku, R., Appah, S., & Lu, Y. (2017). EFFECT OF OPEN AIR DRYING DURATION ON SEED MOISTURE AND THE THRESHING QUALITY OF COWPEA. JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURE, 7(1), 1002–1008. https://doi.org/10.24297/jaa.v7i1.5923

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)