Development of a complete cassava harvester: I - Conceptualization

This is a special report on an applied research work currently being done under the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Associate Membership Scheme. The paper is to be presented in several parts. This Part I first presents a technical analysis of the state-of-the-art in mechanization of cassava harvesting. It shows that no commercial cassava harvester is currently available on the world market, and that the available cassava harvesting aids can only do a good job of loosening the soils around the cassava root bunches. It then gives details of a concept (based on the existing cassava harvesting aids), designed to remove identified gaps in the technology of mechanized cassava harvesting, involving the lifting of the loosened cassava root bunches out the soil and loading them into a truck or trailer. The proposed concept comprises a cassava harvesting aid, an uprooter/lifter system, a collector/channelling chute and an elevator/loader system.