Evaluation of Grain Loss in Dِِifferent Methods of Canola Harvesting in Khorasan Region-Iran

Abstract

There are two methods to be used to harvest canola crop, namely direct and indirect methods; each method having it’s own procedure. The most common procedure prefered by Iranian farmers in direct harvesting is using combine with either conventional or canola head, while in indirect harvesting windrower is used prior to pick the rows up with grain harvester which is equipped with pickup head. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate grain losses in above mentioned methods and proposing an appropriate method for Khorasan region. Experiments in direct harvesting included three levels of grain moisture content, namely %15, %12 and %9. In indirect harvesting, crop was cut by windrower at three levels of grain moisture content of %40, %35 and %30. Then a grain combine with pick-up head was used for picking the rows when the moisture level reduced to 11%. Results showed that using a grain combine equipped with the canola header, was relatively more efficient than other harvesting methods, while the total losses in this method was much higher. The lowest loss in direct and indirect methods occurred at grain moisture contents of 12 and 40% for direct and indirect harvesting, respectively.

Keywords

• Canola
• Combine
• Direct combining
• Indirect harvest
• Grain loss