Custom Hire Service Business of Rice Combine Harvester in Haor Basin of Bangladesh

Abstract

Mechanization is a vital issue to modernize agriculture. The entrepreneurship development is imperative to provide service to the farmers at an affordable price, especially in haor areas. The study was conceived to estimate the combine harvester's rental charge and payback period. Data were collected from 86 rice fields harvested by a whole-feed combine harvester (Model: Zoomlion) in Mithamain upazila under the Kishoreganj district representing haor area of Bangladesh. Land size, operational time, loss time, repair time, idle time, daily area coverage and constraints of harvester machine were also recorded to predict the business viability of combine harvester. The rental charge and payback period was calculated following standard protocol to make business venture profitable. The perception of farmers regarding the prospect of using combine harvester in harvesting has been recorded through personal interviews. The field capacity of combine harvester was observed as 0.20 ha hr-1. Field efficiency of combine harvester depended on the land size. The daily area coverage can be increased after careful selection of the plots. Fuel consumption was found 4.18 l ha-1. Operational consolidation is the best approach to reduce the time of movement resulting in increased daily area coverage. Seasonal use of combine harvester in one locality of the study area was observed for 22 days. The rental charge of the machine was estimated as 10,000 Tk ha-1 and payback period was 3.5 years for the area coverage of 40 ha rice fields. Farmers would be able to save 40% harvesting cost for the rental charge of Tk 10,000 ha-1. Combine harvester rental service has emerged as a viable business model in the haor basin. Whole-feed (Zoomlion model) combine harvester appeared as an effective, economical, and labour-saving harvesting machine in the haor region land tenure system.
 Bangladesh Rice j. 2019, 23(2): 65-75

Business Viability of Small Combine Harvester in Haor Areas

“…The minimum sizes of plots should be more than 500 m 2 and 800 m 2 for Sifang (cutting width 1.5m) and Zoomlion model combine harvester, respectively, to operate at full capacity. [3], [24], [30].…”

“…In six days, a harvester worked in ten rice fields. The amount of fuel consumed was determined by the area covered, the distance from the shed to the rice field, and the movement from plot to plot [3]. The total fuel required to harvest 0.39 hectares of land was estimated to be 30 liters, or 32 L ha -1 .…”

“…Paddy harvesting with a combine harvester needed 34% more labor than manual harvesting [25]. According to [3], the combine harvester is an efficient, energy-effective, laborsaving, and time-saving machine, but its initial cost is very high. A high-tech combine harvester is needed to deliver high productivity with minimal crop losses, damage, and machine maintenance and repair costs [20], [26].…”

“…The type and size of equipment used has an effect on the crop's harvested yield, nutritive value, and production costs [9]. In Maisharkandi, Mithamain upazilla, Kishorganj district, [3] investigated land sizes. The author discovered that 8% of the lands measured less than 750 m 2 in scale.…”

“…According to [19], a combine harvester should be run at the lowest possible cost thus achieving maximum efficiency. Several studies have calculated harvesting costs using possible ways and measurement procedures for a number of harvesting methods [3], [15]- [18], [22]. Due to the importance of timeliness in agricultural and rice production, securing working conditions and optimal efficiency of combine harvesters is important.…”