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Open Access
Swat model evaluation using generated data and assessing the impact of land use changes
(Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Nethi Naga, Hari Sairam; KAU; Anu Varughese
Land and water are the primary natural resources which are useful for all the living beings on earth surface. Degradation of the land surface and lack of water availability are the two major important problems mankind is facing in this century. In order to overcome these problems, there is a need of effective management of these resources. Watershed models are the tools which are not only useful for the effective management of these natural resources, but also useful for the proper understanding of the hydrological behavior of the watershed. These models play a vital role in simulating the hydrology of the watershed. Among the different categories of the model, a physically based, semi distributed hydrologic model SWAT was used for the assessment of the calibration and validation of the hydrologic model SWAT adapted to the study area. The data scarcity is one of the major problems in the ungauged watersheds. In order to overcome this problem, CFSR (Climate Forecast System Reanalysis) data which is a global, high resolutions, coupled atmoshphere ocean land surface sea ice system is available as an alternative option for solving the data deficiency in the watershed. The land use change also plays a vital role in altering the hydrologic system and has a large impact on the stream flow. This is mainly due to the rapid socio economic development. So, based on the above mentioned problems, SWAT output comparison using CFSR & observed meteorological data as inputs was take up. The impact of land use change on the hydrology of watershed was also studied. The platform used for the study was ArcGIS 10.3 with the Arc SWAT interface. The SWAT model set up was done for the Kunthipuzha river basin and the calibration and validation of the model was also done to make the model suitable for use in the area. This model was later used to understand the hydrologic behaviour of the watershed. The model was simulated for the period 1991 to 2013 for calibration and validation of the model was done using the data for the period 2014 to 2016. Before the model calibration and validation, sensitive parameters were evaluated using SWAT CUP (Calibration and Uncertainty Program). CN2 (Initial SCS runoff curve number for moisture condition II) and ALPHS_BF (Base flow alpha factor) were found to be the most sensitive parameters for the study area. The NSE and R2 before and after calibration were 0.81 & 0.83 and 0.82 & 0.85 respectively. The NSE and R2 for the validation were 0.70 & 0.87 respectively. Based on the statistical measures and the criteria used, the model performance is "very good" in the calibration period and "Good" in validation period. To analyse the possibility of using CFSR data instead on observed meteorological data, the developed model was run with observed meteorological data and predicted meteorological data (CFSR)was done separately without changing any other inputs for the period 1991 to 2013. The NSE, R2 and RMSE for the observed meteorological data were 0.82, 0.85 and 29.25 respectively where ad for the predicted meteorological data (CFSR) the values were 0.70, 0.72 and 37.18 respectively. Based on the statistical measures, the performance of the observed meteorological data is better than the predicted meteorological data. From the graphical analysis, it was clear that the values of predicted meteorological data were highly correlated with the observed meteorological data except at peaks. Hence, CFSR data can be used as a reliable data source in data scarce areas. The land use change impact play a major role in alternating the stream flow because of the rapid socio-economic development. The land use map for the year 2000 and 2017 were prepared. While comparing the land use for the year 200 and 2017 , it is found that the urban areas drastically increased from 3.01 to 20.01 % because of the rapid socio economic development. The forest land reduced from 22.24 to 21.31%. The percentage area under paddy decreased from 17.57 to 6.12 %. The model was simulated for the period from 1989 to 2016 with the two years of warm up period. Then the comparison of simulated discharge for the year 2000 and 2016 were evaluated. The results showed that there is no significant change in stream flow when the land use alone is changed keeping all other factors same.
Open Access
Development and evaluation of process protocol for vacuum fried bitter gourd chips (momordica charantia)
(Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Pooja, M R; KAU; Sudheer, K P
Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is commonly known as bitter melon or Karela in India. The estimated post harvest loss of bitter gourd was 25%. A realistic solution to reduce the post harvest loss in bitter gourd is the adoption of the appropriate processing technologies. The vacuum frying is an excellent promising technology, in which food is fried under low pressure and temperature. Vacuum frying reduces the oil absorption, less formation of acrylamide content, and retains the colour and nutrients present in fried products. The vacuum frying system consists of two main chambers namely, frying chamber and oil storage chamber. A de-oiling system is attached to frying chamber to remove the oil content in the final vacuum fried product. This vacuum frying system used for the study was batch type and had a capacity of 3 kg/ batch with oil tank storage of 30 l. After every batch of vacuum frying, chips and oil were collected for analysing the quality. The blended oil (rice bran and palm oil at 80:20) was used as frying oil and de-oiling was done at a speed of 1000 rpm for 5 min. Different pre- treatments were done for vacuum fried bitter gourd chips. Control (Un-treated) sample had the best qualities with less oil content (4.43 %), moisture content (0.264 %), hardness (1.422 N), water activity (0.250) and green colour retention (a*(-4.13)). Quality parameters like moisture content, water activity, oil content, bulk density, true density, hardness, energy content, acrylamide content, thickness expansion, colour values and sensory evaluation of vacuum fried bitter gourd chips were analysed at different frying conditions. The treatment condition at 100oC, and 9 kPa vacuum for a duration of 10 min produced good quality parameters with less oil content (4.011%), acrylamide content (56.52 ppb), hardness value (1.411 N), high retention of green colour (a*(-5.3)) and good organoleptic properties (Hedonic score of 8.7). The laminated aluminium flexible pouches with nitrogen flushing retained the quality of bitter gourd chips during the storage period. The TPC value of blended oil increased from an initial value of 9.4 to 24.21%, due to continuous usage of oil (70 times) under the vacuum frying process, and was within the safe limit. The FFA value of blended oil was within the acceptable limit upto 50 cycles of vacuum frying process.
Open Access
Water availability and climatic water balance for a selected cropped area
(Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Venkata Sai, K; KAU; Asha Joseph
Rainfall is the main source available for water. The knowledge of the rainfall analysis is crucial for crop planning in a region and designing of water conservation structures. The changes in rainfall, its distribution, probability and trends would influence the spatial and temporal distribution of runoff, soil moisture and groundwater reserves. Crop production in an area has a direct relation with the amount and distribution of rainfall. So correct evaluation of water availability period is an important pre-requisite for crop planning. Climatic water balance is widely used for determining the water surplus, water deficit and water availability period for agricultural planning. Hence in the present research work, the rainfall data of Pattambi was analysed to study the variability, trends and probability of rainfall. A weekly climatic water balance was also assessed to determine the surplus/deficit of rainwater. The rainfall variability analysis showed that the mean annual rainfall of Pattambi region was found 2377.96 mm with a CV of 19.29 % which indicated that the rainfall is highly stable in the region. The South-West monsoon season contributed the highest (74.09 %) amount of rainfall. June and July were the months recorded the highest percentage of rainfall of 25.39 % and 24.06 % respectively. Weekly rainfall variability showed that rainfall was stable during 21st to 45th SMWs as the CV ranges from 90 % to 110 % only. The trend analysis of annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall according to Mann-Kendall test revealed that there was a rising and falling trends. But there was no significant trend observed at 5 % level of significance except in summer season. The Sen’s slope estimator revealed that a rising trend was observed in summer season whereas falling trend was observed in annual, South-West and North-East monsoon season and no trend was observed at winter season. The rainfall probability at different levels of exceedance were found by fitting “Incomplete gamma distribution” using Weather Cock software. The weekly rainfall probability at 75 % level of exceedance varied from 10.3 to 72.6 mm during the weeks 21st to 46th. The highest monthly rainfall at 75 % exceedance occurred during June (471.1 mm) and lowest during January (3.1 mm). The highest seasonal rainfall at 75 % exceedance occurred during South-West monsoon (1466.4 mm) and lowest during winter season (10.8 mm). The annual rainfall at 75 % level of exceedance was found to be 2051.6 mm. Weibull distribution was identified as the best fit for weekly rainfall distribution in the region. The total ETc demand of rice, banana and vegetable crops at 50 % probability levels of ETo was estimated as 469.162 mm, 1124.81 mm and 267.92 mm whereas the rainwater availability at 75 % probability level was 933.85 mm, 1107.53 mm and 59.18 mm respectively. It was observed that there was a surplus of 464.688 mm for rice, deficit of 17.28 mm for banana and deficit of 208.74 mm for vegetable crop. The climatic water balance indicated that water surplus (SUR) and water deficit (DEF) components are significant. The total climatic water surplus and deficit in the region was estimated as 1985.54 mm and 155.08 mm. The Moisture Adequacy Index (MAI) of the region indicated that the most of the weeks were of in good potential for growing crops. The determination of water availability period revealed that 1,4,5,8, 9, 11 and 50th SMWs were in water deficit whereas the remaining weeks were in water surplus.
Open Access
Soil erosion risk assessment in Kunthippuzha sub-watershed using remote sensing and gis
(Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology Tavanur, 2018) Shaheemath Suhara, K K; KAU; Abdul Hakkim, V M
This study mainly focused to identify the erosion prone areas in Kunthippuzha sub-basin using RUSLE as well as MMF model. The effect of spatial and temporal variations of land use-land cover on soil erosion was analysed with the help of NDVI values. The estimation was performed for the year 2000 and 2013. The mean soil erosion estimated for the year 2000 was 18.30 and 20.58 t/ha/y respectively by MMF as well as by RUSLE model. Similarly in the year 2013, it was 32.78 and 35.10 t/ha/y respectively. To find the erosion prone areas in the sub-watershed factorial scoring method was chosen, in which pixel based scoring was done based on mean soil erosion value obtained under each layers of landuse, rainfall, slope and topographic raster. From the study based on the RUSLE model, 0.15% of the area experienced very slight erosion. 40.70% of the area was with slight erosion, 28.76% area was under moderate erosion, 22.61% of the area was under severe range and 6.15% area was under very severe range. According to MMF model, the areal extent observed under slight, moderate, severe and very severe risk categories was 39.02%, 36.94%, 14.92%, 7.50% respectively. NDVI values corresponding to land use were identified, in which negative NDVI values correspond to water pixels whereas higher NDVI values represents the thick vegetation. From the analysis of the temporal variation in land use over the NDVI, it was observed that NDVI value decreased at the points where density of the canopy decreased. The spatial variation of soil erosion varies pixel to pixel according to the landuse pattern. Highest soil erosion risk was observed under built-up plus barren land. Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) was calculated for the entire sub- watershed, which shows that most of the eroded sediments get deposited at intermediate location before reaching the outlet. The SDR calculation enhances the importance of adopting GIS technology in soil erosion assessment.
Open Access
Design analysis of kau pokkali paddy harvester towards the development of its scale down prototype
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Venkata Reddy, H K; KAU; Jayan, P R
The term ‘Pokkali’ used in the common parlor refers to a salt tolerant traditional rice cultivar grown in the coastal saline soils of Kerala, India. The Pokkali field is a unique eco-system prevailing in the coastal tract of Kerala with rich bio diversity and amazing capacity to produce organic rice and shrimp alternatively. Rice is grown during non-saline period and the farmers carry out shrimp culture during the saline phase with both having unique symbiotic benefits. Pokkali areas lie in Trissur, Ernakulum and Alappuzha districts covering a total area of 8500 ha. It spreads over 34 Krishibhavans of these three districts. In the saline, water-logged Pokkali farm lands, rice and shrimps are farmed alternatively. The conventional method of harvesting of Pokkali paddy crop by using sickles. The various farming operations in Pokkali paddy cultivation, the harvesting is done by women labourers by walking on the swampy and marshy inundated paddy fields at waist-deep water, which is laborious, tedious and cumbersome. Though a number of paddy combine harvesters are commercially available, none cannot be used in such marshy water logged areas for harvesting paddy. Hence, a power operated floating harvester with provisions for harvesting and conveying the ear heads (panicles) of submerged paddy was developed at KCAET, Tavanur. The overall size of the harvester is 9.6 x 2.2x 2.2 m with a total weight of about 3 tonnes. Due to the over size and weight, the manoeuvrability become a great problem for transportation and operation in small paddy lands. It necessitated designing a scale down proto type of the harvester to operate in all Pokkali areas for easy transportation and good manoeuvrability. The major functions of a Pokkali paddy harvester are floating in water/moving in puddled soil, cutting and conveying of the panicles. The design analysis of the harvester is sequentially carried out for the floating barge, harvesting unit and hydraulic system. Hydraulic drive system consisted of a hydraulic pump, pressure gauge, valves, filters, etc. to guide and control the system. The capacity of the hydraulic tank was 150 litres and double acting hydraulic pump has 61.0 l min-1. Harvesting unit of the Pokkali paddy harvester consists of a reel, cutter bar and conveyor. Reel delivers the stalks to the cutting mechanism, the cutter bar cuts crop and conveys through front conveyor and transferred to in the central conveyor. Width of the cutter bar was 2.1 m with serrated blade to avoid spilling of the stalks. The vertical centre of gravity of the harvester was designed as 0.854m and longitudinal centre of gravity as 4.58 m. It was found out that the design of the existing KAU Pokkali paddy harvester was perfect considering the buoyancy and stability aspects. The overall size of the newly designed scale down prototype is 6.2 x 1.7 x 1.7 m with a total weight of about 1700 kg. A scale down prototype of the harvester is designed in such a way that to suit for fragmented Pokkali areas. The vertical centre of gravity of the scale down prototype is 0.58 m, longitudinal centre of gravity is 2.67 m and transverse centre of gravity is zero. As the transverse centre of gravity is zero, scale down Pokkali paddy harvester is stable to float and longitudinal centre of gravity lies near to the centre and adjacent to the front and rear side of the harvester, it become a well-balanced machine.
Open Access
Design and development of artificial pollinizer for pollinating tropical vegetables under protected cultivation
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Ramya, R; KAU; Sureshkumar, P K
Artificial pollination is a process that is highly require in vegetable crops grown under protected cultivation since, protected environment offers barriers to natural agents for pollination such as insects, wind or water. A study was undertaken to design and develop an artificial pollinizer for pollinating tropical vegetable crops under protected cultivation. To obtain preliminary data required for the design, floral and physical characteristics of flower, anther and pollen of selected tropical vegetable crops were studied in laboratory conditions. Accordingly a conceptual design was evolved and two models of artificial pollinizers were developed. Suitability of the developed pollinizer was evaluated in laboratory as well as field conditions. Results of the evaluation have been presented and analyzed. Six tropical vegetable crops were selected for the preliminary studies like floral characteristics, physical and dimensional measurements of flowers, anther and pollen grains were conducted in the laboratory. Sizes of pollen grains were measured by using Olympus Bx43 light microscope and the measurements were taken using the software Ultrascope version 9.1. Shape was determined from standard shape charts suggested by UPOV, 2007. The shape of pollen grains of tomato, pumpkin and ash guard are found to be „circular‟ with a Length/Width ratio ranging from 1: 1 to 1: 1.1. Pollen grain of chilli is „broad deltate‟ with L/W ratio of 1: 1.2. Pollen grains of water melon and cucumber are „narrow oblate‟ with a L/W ratio of 1: 1.13 to 1:1.15. Based on the preliminary studies, functional requirements and conceptual designs two models of the artificial pollinizers were designed and developed. Artificial pollinizer Model – I uses air as the medium for collection of pollen from flowers. Suction pressure developed by a vacuum pump suck the pollen grains from the male flower to a pollen collection chamber. The pollen collection unit is provided with a brush tip which detach the pollen grains from the flower and sucked by a vacuum pump are deposited in a pollen collection chamber. A screen mesh filter of 15 μm aperture is used in the chamber to prevent the pollen grains from carry away. Components of artificial pollinizer model – I includes pollen collection unit, pollen collection tube, adaptor for pollen collection chamber, pollen collection chamber, air tube, air tube adaptor, a connector and a vacuum pump. An electric powered air blower of 220 V, 50 Hz and 0.55kW is used as vacuum pump. The blower produces a suction velocity of 20-22 ms-1 at 13,000 rpm. Artificial pollinizer Model – II uses water as the medium for collection of pollen from male flowers. Water is sprayed from a nozzle to the male flower kept carefully in a pollen collection chamber. Water spray produced by a pneumatic hand pump from the nozzle wash out the pollen grains from the flower and is collected in the water tight container. Components of artificial pollinizer Model – II includes a spray nozzle, pneumatic hand sprayer, water container and pollen collecting chamber. Collected pollen can be sucked by a syringe for spraying to the female flower for artificial pollination. Dry pollen collected by Model – I is also mixed with water and used for artificial pollination using a syringe. Evaluation of artificial pollinizer was done by accessing pollen viability and fruit set efficiency. Viability of pollen was observed under laboratory condition and fruit set efficiency was observed under field conditions. From the studies it is observed that, pollen viability is decreasing with increase in storage period for both the crops. Maximum pollen viability is observed when artificial pollination was done with fresh pollen grains. Also, the viability is found higher for pollen stored in 1 % sucrose solution than pollens stored in plain water in both crops. Study on fruit set efficiency is also seems to be decreasing with increase in storage period for both the crops. Maximum fruit set efficiency is observed when artificial pollination was done with fresh pollen grains. Fruit set efficiency is higher for pollen stored in 1 % sucrose solution than pollens stored in plain water in both crops. Also the fruit set efficiency values are on par with manual pollination. Stages of fruit development in cucumber and watermelon crops are also observed on the 3 rd, 7th and 15th days after artificial pollination and found that the artificial pollination done using the artificial pollinizer was successful.
Open Access
Computer aided analysis of 'sit and stand' type coconut climbers for mechanical stability
(Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Pooja, V; KAU; Jayan, P R
Coconuts are harvested by climbing the palm and cutting the nuts down by hand. Manually climbing up and down the palm is hazardous and tedious. Now a days a few models of mechanical coconut palm climbers are available to overcome these drawbacks. Testing the mechanical strength and stability of the coconut palm climbers is necessary to ensure its safe performance under working condition. Among these types, KAU and Farmer’s models were selected and its three dimensional models were generated in Solidworks 13.0 software. The static and fatigue analysis of these selected models were carried out in the ANSYS 15.0 software. The assembly of each component of the top and bottom frames of the models were created and saved in step file format. The file was then imported to the ANSYS 15.0 software for the static and fatigue analysis. Preprocessing steps such as meshing, selection of material and application of boundary conditions were then carried out sequentially to establish static and fatigue problems. In the KAU model top and bottom frames were steel and aluminium materials, wherein the Farmer’s model top and bottom frame were made of structural steel. The boundary conditions imposed are the application of loads and fixing of supports. Various loads of 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 and 1000 N were applied and under each load the analysis was carried out. In the KAU model, the inner face of the bent tube and V tube and in the Farmer’s model, the rope and curve plate were considered as fixed supports. The static analysis interpreted were the equivalent (Von-Mises) stress, equivalent elastic strain and total deformation while fatigue analysis interpreted the fatigue life and factor of safety. The results showed that as the load increased the Von Mises stress was found increased. Also, there were decreasing trends for the factor of safety and fatigue life. The top frame of KAU models have factor of safety more than three, two and one up to 400, 500 and 1000 N load respectively. The infinite fatigue life cycles were observed up to 800 N. The bottom frame of KAU model have factor of safety more than one up to a load of 1000 N and have infinite fatigue life cycles up to 1000 N load. Hence KAU model is safe to operate up to a load of 1000 N. The top and bottom frames of the Farmer’s model also found out the factor of safety more than one and have infinite fatigue life cycles up to load of 1000 N. Hence Farmer’s model is safe to use up to a load of 1000 N. further changes in material, design or dimensions are suggested to get more factor of safety for loads from 700 to 1000 N for both the selected models. As there is no specified test codes available for manually operated mechanical tree climbers, a draft test code with Minimum Performance Standard (MPS) was also prepared under this study.
Open Access
Response surface optimisation of process variables for encapsulation of cumin oil by spray drying
(Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Shahama, K; Santhi Mary Mathew
Spices are the main flavouring agents in food. Cumin (Cuminum cyminum Linn.) is one of the important commercial seed spices whichbelong to the umbellifereae family. Cumin is valued for its aroma, medicinal and therapeutic properties. The most important chemical component of cumin seed is essential oil content, ranging from 2.5 to 4.5%. The biological activity of the oil is lost due to the volatilisation or degradation of active compounds owing to direct exposure to heat, humidity, light, or oxygen. Encapsulation is the most suitable method which will protect the essential oil and flavour ingredients from the liquid form to solid form by coating agents.Microencapsulation and nanoencapsulation are the two encapsulating techniques commonly used. Spray drying is the most commonly used technique for encapsulation in the food industry as it is a rapid, continuous, cost-effective, reproducible and scalable process for the production of dry powders from a fluid material. The microencapsulation of cumin oil were carried out with a tall type spray dryer with twin fluid atomiser whereas the nanoencapsulation was done in a laboratory spray dryer with ultrasonic atomiser. The wall materials selected for encapsulation were gum arabic and maltodextrin. The process variables used in the study were gum arabic: maltodextrin ratio (1:2, 1:3 and 1:4), core concentration (10,20, and 30%) and spray dryer inlet temperature (150, 160 and 170°C). The pysico-chemical properties of cumin oil and wall materials were determined. The optimisation of the encapsulation process was done with RSM (Response Surface Methodology) from the quality characteristics of the encapsulated powders. The optimised condition in microencapsulation were 1: 2.77 carrier blend ratio (gum arabic:maltodextrin), 10% core concentarion and 162.50°C spray dryer inlet temperature and that for nanoencapsulation were a carrier blend ratio of 1:2.92, core concentration of 10% and a spray dryer inlet temperature of 163.38°C. The total cost for the production of 1 kg of microencapsulted cuminn oil were Rs.1577kg and that for nanoencapsyulation were Rs.13510.7/kg.
Open Access
Development and performance evaluation of a rubber tapping machine
(Department of Food and Agricultural Process Engineering, Kelappaji College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Tavanur, 2018) Aswathy, M S; KAU; George Mathew
Hevea brasiliensis, the common rubber tree, is the most important species which is the commercial source of natural rubber. The natural rubber is harvested in the form of latex, a sticky, milky colloid through the tapping process. The Hevea latex obtained from the bark of rubber tree contains natural rubber particles that can be harvested and utilised for various industrial applications. Tapping is the process of making a controlled wound in the bark of rubber tree to cut open the latex vessels, which cause the flow of latex for capturing the latex. The process of rubber tapping poses potential risk of various health problems among rubber workers. Scarcity of skilled labours for rubber tapping is one of the main challenges in the rubber industry. Mechanization of the tapping process can reduce the effort of the labour and reduces the human drudgery. Hence, the present study was undertaken to develop a rubber tapping machine and to evaluate the performance of the machine. The developed rubber tapping machine consists of a cutting blade, shaft, connecting rod, crank, gear assembly, bearing, coupling, frame, casing, motor and a battery. The rubber tapping machine is connected to a 12 V, 5 Ah battery. The battery powers the motor. 0.25 hp wiper motor was used and it delivers a rotational speed of 72 rpm. The rotary motion of the motor is transmitted to the gear assembly using a gear shaft. The gear of 48 teeth which is connected with the motor rotates at 72 rpm. The speed is increased to 288 rpm by meshing gear of 48 teeth with 12 teeth gear to obtain a speed ratio of 4. A crank is attached to the gear of 12 teeth and rotates at 288 rpm. A connecting rod linking the shaft and the crank converts this rotary motion into reciprocating motion of the shaft. The required stroke is achieved by an eccentricity of 15 mm in the connecting rod. The blade is reciprocated along with the shaft with a stroke length of 30 mm and 144 strokes per minute. The reciprocating motion of the cutting blade helps to cut the bark of the rubber tree while tapping. The field evaluation of the developed machine was conducted in two farmer’s field by three tappers and the performance of the was evaluated in terms of its capacity, depth of cut of bark, bark consumption or thickness of cut of bark, time for tapping operations and weight of the machine and compared with manual tapping. The developed machine has an average capacity of about 157 trees per hour. The machine cuts the bark with an average depth of cut of 7.2 mm and a thickness of cut of 1.8 mm. The developed machine weighs 1.6 kg without the power source and 3.6 kg with power source. The cost of operation of rubber tapping machine is estimated as Rs.1.16/tree whereas the manual tapping charges are Rs. 2/tree. The developed rubber tapping machine is more advantageous for tapping the rubber trees with less effort and human drudgery compared with the traditionally using tapping knives.

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