Physical Properties of Cabbage for Mechanical Harvesting

Abstract: India is the second largest producer of cabbage (Brassica oleracea) in the world. Cabbage is a kind of common-planted vegetable which is originated in Cyprus and around the Mediterranean coast. The cultivated area is about 400138 ha with a production of 9039219 MT per year i.e. about 12.80 % of total world production and has rank 6th among all the vegetables in India (NHB, 2015). But all of these cabbages are now harvested by hand, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for growers to employ enough skilled workers for this laborious task because of the urbanization. Because of this, agriculture's economic contribution to India's GDP is steadily declining with wide-based economic growth in the nation. Therefore, this situation demands industries to promote the project of developing a cabbage harvester in place of manual work. In the 20th century, several researchers had examined the physical properties of cabbage and had applied their findings to design the components of cabbage harvester. But most of the machines, thus produced, had a limited use for either industrial use or fresh market. Some designers had constructed harvester for industrial use without knowing its physical properties. Thus, leaded to failure.

Keywords: Cabbage, Coefficient of variance, Head shapes, Pusa drumhead, Pusa Mukta, September Early, Pulling force.