Based on the use of tools/implements of drudgery reduction of farm women they are classified as follows: 1. Weeding Implements 2. Harvesting Implements 3. Implements Related to Farm Activities 4. Technologies Related to Household Works 5. Implements Related to Dairy Activities 6. Value Addition Equipment.
1. Weeding Implements:
This peg-type weeder is excellent for row crops on sandy and loamy soils. It can be operated easily by one person. When the weeder is pushed forward, the drum rotates through the soil and the curved blade cuts the roots of weeds. The weeder has a working width of 15 cm and can weed about 0.025 ha/hr.
This multipurpose weeder is especially useful on hilly terrain. The weeder’s cutting edge can cut small bushes and the curved blade can be used for weeding between crop plants. Its designer says this weeder reducer drudgery by 25 to 30 percent compared to traditional hand hoeing on terraced or sloping land.
This manual weeder is effective for light weeding in paddy fields. It can be operated easily by one person. The weeder is pushed and pulled, forward and back, continuously between paddy rows. The rotating blades go below the surface to cut and turn up weeds. It can weed about 0.025 ha/hr. This rotary weeder can be made using local skills and local materials.
This weeder is best suited to dry areas. It consists of a toothed, double-edged blade attached to a long handle. The sharp-toothed blade cuts weeds just below the soil surface.
This tool, designed for light weeding, consists of a long wooden or bamboo handle joined to a sharpened, V-shaped blade. The blade cuts through soil, cutting weeds just below the soil surface.
Post-Harvest Implements:
i. Tubular Hand-Held Maize Sheller:
This tubular sheller consists of a 7-cm length o steel pipe, 6.25 cm in diameter, with four tapered fins of light sheet metal fitted inside. A, one end the space between fin tips is 26.5 mm, while at the other, the space is 39 mm. To operate, hold the sheller in one hand and insert a dry cob with the other hand. Twist them in opposite directions. The fins detach corn kernels from the cob at the rate of about 20 kg per hour.
ii. Comb-Type Groundnut Stripper:
This manually operated machine detaches pods from groundnut vines. The machine consists of a rectangular frame with vertical pegs and a horizontal strip of expanded metal (used in wire fences) fixed on each side in the shape of a comb. Handfuls of groundnut vines are pulled across the comb with force. This strips pods from the vines at a rate of 200- 300 kg of pods per hour, with four people working at the same time.
iii. Drum-Type Groundnut Stripper:
This stripper removes groundnut pods from green vines. It can be operated easily by one person and is quite effective in minimizing postharvest losses. The device consists of a hollow drum constructed from two metal disks connected by metal rods covered by rubber tubing. The operator cranks the drum handle and beats the groundnut vines on the rotating drum rods. A framed canvas hood keeps pods from scattering.
iv. Hand-operated Grain Cleaner:
Used for removing foreign matter from Bengal gram, wheat, and soybean. This device consists of two metal screens in a frame suspended by rope. About 10 kg of grain is fed into the sieve and the cradle-like cleaner is swung briskly back and forth. Grains fall through the screen but debris remains. The cleaned grain is sieved again to remove finer debris.
Caution:
Suspend the cleaner from a strong tripod or beam.
2. Harvesting Implements:
i. Naveen Sickle:
This sickle is best suited for harvesting wheat and rice crops. It has a wooden handle with a special hand grip shaped to make harvesting easier. The sickle blade, made of serrated carbon steel, is riveted to a 12-mm wide, U-shaped strip which is fixed to the handle. Ten women using Naveen sickles can harvest I ha in 10 hours.
The khurpa-cum-sickle is a weeder, a hoe, and cutter all in one. The blade is made of carbon steel sheet. The front edge is used for weeding and hoeing, while the side edge is cured and serrated to cut like a sickle. The serrated edge has a cured length of 12 cm, which is about 60 percent of the length of a normal sickle. The handle is made of seasoned Shisham wood. The tool weighs 300 g, light enough for continuous use.
3. Implements Related to Farm Activities:
Weeding, sowing, dibbling, harvesting, threshing etc. are the important farm activities performed by the women in maximum number. Besides, other farm activities performed by rural women are removing stalks, bagging picking, cleaning grains, bundling etc. The useful technologies/tools to reduce women drudgery in farm related activities are given as under.
I. Hand Wheel One Lane Weeder:
i. Most suited for intercultural operations in row crops like wheat, maize, cotton, groundnut, seasonal vegetables.
ii. It works in the soil up to a depth of about 2 inches as compared to about 1/2 inches with khurpa.
iii. Keep the worker in good posture, so minimizes the stress on the body, o Length can be adjusted according to the height of the worker.
Source – Falcon industries, Cost; Rs.700/-
i. It is manually operated equipment for weeding and inter-cultivation in upland row crops in black soil region.
ii. It consists of twin wheels, frame, V-blade with tyne, U clamp, scrapper and handle. Cutting and uprooting of weeds are done through push and pull action.
iii. Light weight, simple to operate which improves the work posture and also reduces the drudgery of the women worker.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 250/-
i. Most suitable for sowing wheat, moong, vegetable and maize. Made up of high quality steel painted with durable long lasting colour.
ii. Length of the handle can be adjusted to suit the worker.
iii. Keep the worker in good posture and minimizes the stress on the body.
Source – Falcon industries; Cost: Rs.1400/-
IV. Saral Khurpi for Weeding (Designed by UAS, Dharwad):
i. Weight 85 g
Material used Iron & wood
Length of the arm 19 cm
Length of the handle 11 cm
ii. The use of this tool for weeding reduces the total cardiac cost of work and physiological cost of work to a significant level.
iii. Work done per unit is increased, therefore efficiency is increased.
iv. Rated perceived exertion is also significantly reduced.
v. Respondents perceive this tool very comfortable and light to use and also it helps to remove the bigger weeds with less pressure due to slit in the pointed edge.
Source – Local blacksmith; Cost: Rs. 40/-
V. Naveen Dibbler:
i. It is single row, manually operated equipment for dibbling bold and medium seeds in row or gap filling into well-prepared soil.
ii. Suitable for drilling soybean, sorghum and maize in small plot or hilly terrain.
iii. It consists of jaw type seed placement device, cell type metering mechanism (wooden) lever type power transmission system for roller and jaws, seed box with delivery system.
iv. Reduces the grip fatigue up to 74% and angle of deviation up to 43%. The use of this reduces the muscular fatigue of users also.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 200/-
VI. Rotary Dibbler:
i. It is manually operated push type equipment for dibbling bold and medium size seeds in rows at uniform spacing in well prepared soil.
ii. It is suitable for dibbling maize, soybean, sorghum, pigeon pea and Bengal gram in black or alluvial soil region.
ii. It consists of seed hopper, seed delivery jaw, jaw operating lever, wooden roller, handle, transport cum press wheel etc.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 1000/-
i. Light in weight and easy to move.
ii. Improve the work posture.
iii. The use of it reduces the heart rate and energy expenditure of the user.
iv. Reduces the angle of deviation of the back thus make the worker more comfortable.
v. Reduces the grip fatigue to a significant level.
VIII. Tubular Maize Sheller:
i. This is hand-operated tool to shell maize from dehusked lobs.
ii. This is made up of mild steel pipe with four tapered fins riveted to its inner periphery.
iii. The Sheller is held in left hand and cob held in right hand is inserted into it with forward and backward twist to achieve the shelling.
iv. The work efficiency with the use of this tool to shell maize is very high and efforts are very low.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 40/-
IX. Sac Holder:
i. It holds the sack in vertical position for easy loading of cleaned grains. Its height can be adjusted to the size of the sack and suitable for all types of materials.
ii. Keeps the women in right posture, thus reduces discomfort and fatigue of the body, while packing the grains for storage.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs 700/-
X. Manual Double Screen Cleaner:
i. It is batch type hand operated equipment to replace traditional practice of grain cleaning with natural wind or horizontal/vertical sieving to clean the grains.
ii. It separates impurities like stubbles, chaff, dirt and broken wheat, Bengal gram, soybean and other cereals and pulses crops.
iii. It consists of mainframe, scalper/grading screen, draper rod, handle, shutter etc. and is being operated by hanging it on any elevated point with four ropes.
iv. A batch of 5-10 kg of grains is fed into the cleaner and it swings to and fro to sieve the batch.
v. Single women can operate this in standing posture and desired work can be done with minimum of efforts and body fatigue.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 1300/-
XI. Finger Blades (for tea Plucking) (Designed by CSKHPKW, Palampur):
i. Weight 5-10 g Material used – Iron
ii. Designed to fit the women fingers
iii. Use of these prevents the injuries of fingers.
iv. The use of finger blades reduces the heart rate and energy expenditure of the worker.
v. The use of finger blades also increases the work output and reduces the total cardiac cost of work.
vi. The use of finger blades also reduces the grip fatigue and angle of deviation of backbone of the worker to a significant level.
Source – Local artisan; Cost: Rs. 50/-
XII. Kilta (for tea Plucking) (Designed by CSKHPKW, Palampur):
i. Weight – 2.6 kg; Material used- Bamboo.
ii. Provision of detachable umbrella.
iii. It makes possible the use of both hands for work therefore increases the work efficiency.
iv. Use of kilta reduces the heart rate and energy expenditure of the worker.
v. Increases the work output.
vi. Decreases the grip fatigue and muscular fatigue of the worker to a significant level.
Source – Local artisan; Cost: Rs. 150/-
XIII. Groundnut-Cum-Castor Decorticator:
i. This is manually operated equipment to separated kernels from groundnut and castor pods.
ii. This can be operated both in sitting and standing postures.
iii. This consists of frame, handle, and oscillating arm having cast iron/nylon shoes to achieve shelling with the use of this equipment.
iv. With the use of this equipment work output can be increased at low cost and physiological and muscular efforts can be minimized.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs 600/-
XIV. Groundnut/Sunflower Decorticator with Feeder & Separator:
i. This equipment is also manually operated and it has auto controlled feeding system to break the groundnut pods and then separate the kernels from crushed mixture.
ii. It consists of frame, hopper, controlled feeder, handle, concave pegs, oscillating arm and separating unit.
iii. It can also be used for sunflower seed decortications by changing sieve and shoe.
iv. The use of this also enhances the work output and reduces the physiological and muscular efforts.
v. Simple to operate and single women can operate it easily for hours together.
vi. Work can be completed with less effort and time and the end product of high quality can be achieved.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 900/-
4. Technologies Related to Household Works:
Household work is very time-consuming and drudgery prone. The total energy input in household work is 2700 to 2800 Kcals that further increases during non-routine tasks such as carpet cleaning, washing and mopping.
Time spend on household work on an average is 6- 7 hrs daily. Some of the technologies have been developed and tested by the scientists working in the field of Family Resource management, the use of these can be helpful to reduce women drudgery and increase work output.
There are given as below:
i. Made from mud with the locally available material.
ii. Size of chulha and the cooking pot can be adjusted as per the family need.
iii. Efficiency of these chulhas varies from 14% to 15% whereas it is only 6% in case of traditional chulha.
iv. Saves 25 – 30 kg Fuel/month/family and 45- 50% of cooking time.
Advantages of fuel efficient chulhas:
i. Use less fuel
ii. Reduce fuel collection time
iii. Reduce cooking time
iv. Produce less smoke
v. Conserve trees
vi. Allow more dung to be used as fertilizer instead of fuel
vii. Provide work for local chulha makers
Millions of women in developing countries spend hours each day gathering fuel and still more hours feeding inefficient, smokey chulhas. These ovens harm women’s health, add to women’s work load, and contribute to deforestation.
To combat this problem, many fuel- efficient ovens have been designed and promoted over the years. These improved chulhas all have something in common: they are scientifically designed for better heat flow, which means that maximum heat is taken from the fuel and directed at the cooking pots.
Many different models of improved chulhas are available:
i. Pottery-lined mud chulha with or without chimney
ii. Portable metal chulha
iii. Portable ceramic-lined metal chulha
iv. Portable chulha with separate hood chimney
v. Pottery-lined chulha without chimney Installation
Installation:
Improved chulhas are installed by specially trained, self-employed chulha makers. Customers are helped to choose the right chulha to meet their needs-depending on family size, kitchen location, type of fuel to be used. Normally, chimneys are recommended for closed, poorly ventilated areas.
Economies:
Chulhas are normally made from locally available materials. But, depending on the chulha’s size and design-whether the chulha includes a chimney pipe, smoke hood, ceramic or metal components-and taking into account installation charge and available subsidies, an improved chulha can cost from Rs. 15 to N 150.
If you are interested in having a fuel-efficient improved chulha, contact the block development officer in your area.
Efficient Fuel Energy Utilization:
Energy for cooking is a basic requirement of daily life. Women in rural areas must travel long distances to collect fuel for cooking. Then they spend long hours cooking in smoke-filled kitchens. Here are some ways to make best use of fuel and minimize cooking time.
i. Use round-bottomed pots on wood-burning chulhas. More heat can be transferred to these as compared to flat-bottomed pots.
ii. The diameter of the pot must be 1.5- to 2-times bigger than the diameter of the chulha opening.
iii. Clean the pot bottom before use.
Fuel-Saving Cooking Techniques:
i. Cook with the minimum quantity of water. If more water is required during cooking, add hot water if possible.
ii. Keep the pot or pan covered with a plate or pot lid while cooking.
iii. Soak pulses, rice, etc., in water for at least half an hour before cooking. Hard-coated legumes, such as lima beans, gram, and cowpea, should be soaked overnight.
iv. Do not allow flames to come out the chulha’s fire door.
v. When cooking is complete, quickly remove unused fuel from the fire chamber and douse the fuel with water. This wet fuel can be sun-dried and used again.
Remember to Cover Your Pot:
Smart Fuel Use:
i. Chop wood into small pieces; about 3 cm × 5 cm × 10 cm.
ii. Do not over-feed the fire. Flames should not escape the fire box. This is a waste of fuel.
iii. Use dry fuel. Otherwise, energy is wasted removing moisture when the fuel is burned.
iv. Place wood pieces at angles across the grate (if the chulha has a grate) to allow air circulation.
v. Stack wood pieces across each other for better circulation.
vi. If you are using long fuel sticks which protrude from the fire box, keep them horizontal or tilted toward the centre of the grate by propping up their outside ends with a brick.
vii. When using light fuels such as twigs and straw along with wood, bum the wood first to achieve a high temperature. Add the light fuels next for their good combustion.
Dung should be used for composting. However, if some part of your dung must be used for fuel, prepare fuel rods by coating dung over long sticks. After they are dried in the sun, these fuel rods burn more efficiently and produce less smoke than either wood or dung burned separately.
i. It can be used for 6-7 hours a day for cooking, boiling, steaming and baking of different food items.
ii. Use of this saves time and energy of women,
iii. Preserves flavor and nutritive value of cooked food,
iv. Recurring cost is almost none,
v. Easy and safe to use.
vi. Form no smoke and soot in the house.
Source – State dept. of non – conventional energy sources, Cost: Rs. 1000/-
Households can save money, save labour, and preserve the environment by using the free energy of the sun to cook food. About 60 percent of energy used in rural areas in India is used for cooking. This comes from fuel wood, agricultural waste, animal dung, coal, and kerosene.
Aside from the cost of these fuels and the long hours spent collecting them, there is also an environmental cost Demand for fuel wood, for instance, is causing deforestation which leads to floods and erosion.
i. Savings-solar cookers use no fuel and are cheap to maintain
ii. Safety-no fires, no electric shocks, no gas leaks
iii. Time-saving-cook four items at a time
iv. Convenience-very little attention is required
v. Simplicity-solar cookers are simple to use
vi. Nutrition-solar cooking preserves the nutritive value of food
vii. Flavour-food is cooked slowly so flavour is retained
viii. Cleanliness-no smoke and no soot
Note:
Solar cookers do not work well in early morning, late afternoon, or on cloudy days. Parts of the solar cooker.
There are six main parts to a solar cooker:
1. Outer box-made of galvanized iron or aluminium.
2. Inner cooking tray-made of sheet aluminium painted black to absorb the sun’s radiation.
3. Double glass lid-with a 1-cm air space between the sheets of glass for insulation and a rubber gasket to prevent heat leakage.
4. Thermal insulating material- such as glass wool, packed between the outer box and the inner tray.
5. Mirror-fixed on the inside of the outer box lid to focus the sun’s rays on the cooking containers and cooking tray.
6. Cooking containers (with covers); of aluminum or stainless steel, painted black on the outside to absorb the sun’s radiation.
i. Keep the solar cooker in the open in direct sunlight for at least 45 minutes before loading it with cooking pots. This will reduce the cooking time.
ii. From time to time, adjust the position of the cooker and mirror to focus the sun’s rays on the cooking pots and cooking tray.
iii. Open the glass lid of the solar cooker, place the cooking pots inside and close the lid. As much as possible, keep the lid closed. Opening the lid will cause heat to escape and prolong cooking time.
Precautions:
i. When cooking is complete, leave the lid open for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the pots to cool down.
ii. Use cloth potholders when removing pots from the cooker.
iii. When opening the cooker’s glass lid, keep your face and body away to avoid steam burn.
Maintenance:
i. The outside of the pots and the surface of the inner tray should be painted black from time to time. Avoid scratching the paint.
ii. When cooking is complete, clean the cooker with a dry cloth. Wipe both sides of the double glass lid and mirror with a soft clean duster before and after using the cooker.
Useful Tips:
i. Cut vegetables into small pieces before cooking.
ii. Softer cereals and pulses in water before cooking.
iii. Do not overfill the pots (ingredients and cooking water combined should about reach the middle of the pot).
iv. Keep containers covered while cooking.
v. Before roasting, grease the pot and smear the food with oil. Leave the pot lid off.
vi. Spices should be added before and after cooking, but not during cooking. Frequent opening of the glass cooker lid and pot lids will result in heat loss and prolonged cooking time.
vii. Keep the cooking tray and pots painted black.
viii. To avoid scratching the black paint, remove cooking pots before transporting the cooker.
ix. Store the cooker closed, in a safe, sheltered place.
Priyagni Angithi:
i. It is time and energy saving.
ii. Use of this saves fuel.
iii. It is smoke and soot free.
iv. It can be shifted to the convenient place of use.
Source – GBPUA&T, Pantnagar; Cost: Rs. 180/-
IV. Butter Churner:
i. Use of this saves time and energy of the women.
ii. Increases work output with minimum of efforts.
iii. Gives good quality end product.
iv. Keeps the floor area clean.
i. It is made up of wrought iron, painted with beautiful colour.
ii. It can be used in the standing posture, thus reduces the stress on back muscles.
iii. Quality and quantity of work done is of high grade.
iv. Handgrip fatigue for cutting green leafy vegetable is minimum.
v. It has almost no maintenance cost and is easy to operate.
VI. Wiper for Mud Plastering of House (Tested by PAU centre):
i. Weight 320gms. Length 3′-4′
ii. Material used Plastic
iii. Light in weight and easy to operate
iv. Available in different lengths
v. Height should be made adjustable
vi. Use of wiper improves the posture of worker and enhances the work productivity.
vii. Decreases the heart rate and energy expenditure.
viii. The use of wiper also reduces the grip and muscular fatigue of the worker to a significant level.
Source – local artisan; Cost: Rs.50/-
Ergonomically Sound Kitchen Layout:
Economically sound kitchen layout saves 43% of cooking time, 84% distance traveled and 65% of postural change therefore reduces the women drudgery.
i. Place frequently used items at the place of first use.
ii. Store items within the women’s comfortable reach.
iii. Store items, which are easy to see, reach, grasp and replace.
iv. Give sufficient clearance for grasping and replacing item.
v. Place heavy items on the lower shelves.
vi. Store items one row deep and one layer deep.
vii. Items of same dimensions are to be stacked.
5. Implements Related to Dairy Activities:
The uses of these agricultural tools reduce the work efforts and increase the work efficiency with minimum of body stress. These tools are cost effective, easy to use and maintain and also these are women – friendly. The women worker can easily use these tool/implements and reduce the drudgery in work.
I. Revolving Pihri for Milking of Animals (Designed by PAU Centre):
i. Use of this Pihri for sitting reduces the muscular fatigue of the worker to a significant level. Height – 12 cm
ii. Width —34 cm; Material used -Iron
iii. Woven material – Nivar/ plastic cane
iv. Wheels (Plastic) – 4
v. Use of revolving pihri improves the work posture from squatting to sitting. The use of revolving pihri reduces the heart rate and energy expenditure of the user and enhances the work output.
Source – Local artisan; Cost: Rs. 150/-
i. Sickle with wooden and plastic handles are made up of high carbon steel. These have serrated blade, which follows the friction and sheer principles to cut the plant, thus reduces the cutting force drastically as compared to traditional sickle.
ii. Sharpness of the blade is long lasting and minimizes the efforts to get it sharpened time and again.
iii. Handle is made up of special grip to make it easy to hold and ensure the safety in use.
iv. These are suitable for cutting wheat, rice, fodder and thin stalk crops.
v. The use of improved sickles decreases the body discomfort of the worker to a significant level.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 30/-
i. These are made up of high grade steel and available in 20 cm, 25 cm, 30 cm, and 36 cm width.
ii. Handle is made up of lightweight plastic and is easy to use with less effort.
iii. Women can use this in standing posture and can be used to collect the dry fodder at one place before making the bundle.
iv. Reduce efforts and increase work output of the worker.
Source – Falcon industries; Cost: Rs.140/-
i. These are of two types, one for pushing the dung and other for picking up.
ii. The blades of both of these are made up of high carbon steel.
iii. Handles are long and of five feet length, can be used in comfortable posture.
iv. Women need not to bend time and again to collect and pickup the dung from different places, thus reduce the body discomforts and pain.
v. First one has the curved blade to make the task of dung collection easy and convenient.
Source – Falcon Industries; Cost: Rs. 140/-
6. Value Addition Equipment:
The technologies mentioned above under value addition category can be used by women worker to take up the small entrepreneurship at domestic level. These tools are cost effective and easy to operate. These can be easily procured from CIAE, Bhopal at a nominal cost and can be used to enhance the family income thereby can improve the standard of living of families.
I. Low Cost Multi-purpose Grain Mill:
i. It is a 1.0 hp single phase electric equipment used for grinding of cereals, coriander and pulses to produce grills/flour powder and split respectively.
ii. The grains with 8-10% moisture content (wet basis) with low oil contents are most, suitable. It consists of hopper, feed adjuster and vertical grinding wheel.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs.4550/-
II. Potato Peeler:
i. It is batch type hand operated equipment for peeling outer skin of potatoes of any size for further processing to produce value added products like chips, flakes etc.
ii. It consists of mainframe handle, rotating drum with notches, water inlet, top cover etc.
iii. A batch of 8 kg potatoes is fed in the drum and peeling is completed in minutes.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 3500/-
III. Potato Slicer:
i. It is simple manually operated equipment for slicing potato to produce chips and wafers.
ii. It consists of mainframe, four cylinders and pressing device.
iii. It can accommodate potatoes up to 75 mm. Diameter.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs.3000/-
IV. Paneer Pressing Device:
i. It is a screw type manually operated equipment to produce pressed cubical paneer out of the coagulated soymilk slurry.
ii. The device virtually does three operations i.e. filter soymilk from slurry, press the paneer and cut into cubical form.
iii. It consists of a frame; square box and screw operated pressing plate.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 2000/-
V. Solar Cabinet Dryer:
i. It is equipment for drying perishable, semi-perishable and wet processed food material using solar energy.
ii. It is suitable for drying chili, potato chips, cauliflower, leafy vegetables etc. which reduces drying time because of aspirator.
iii. It consists of wooden cabinet glass covers, aspirator etc.
Source – CIAE, Bhopal; Cost: Rs. 6000/-