Development and Evaluation of a Motor-Operated Panchagavya Mixer for Organic Farming Applications

Panchagavya, a traditional bio-formulation prepared from cow-derived ingredients (milk, curd, ghee, urine and dung), is valued for its ability to enhance soil fertility and plant growth. However, the conventional preparation method requires labor-intensive, repeated manual stirring for proper fermentation, leading to inconsistent quality and limited scalability. Mechanization is needed to produce Panchagavya efficiently and uniformly for wider adoption in organic farming.

A motor-operated mixer was designed and fabricated using a 230 V AC single-phase motor (0.186 kW) coupled with a 10:1 planetary gearbox to drive a helical ribbon-type blade inside a 100 L HDPE container. Torque and power requirements were calculated to ensure adequate mixing without damaging microbial integrity. Performance was evaluated at batch sizes of 50, 75 and 100 L by measuring mixing time, homogeneity of total soluble solids, energy consumption and labor effort. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA.

The motorized mixer achieved 98.3%±0.7 homogeneity, significantly higher than crank-operated (91.2%±1.5) and manual (83.4%±2.1) methods (p<0.05). Mixing time was reduced to 5–10 min, more than 60 % faster than manual practice. Energy consumption ranged from 0.0155 to 0.0310 kWh per batch, costing only ₹ 0.12-0.25 per cycle. Operator involvement was limited to less than two minutes, translating to potential labor savings of about ₹ 1,000 per month for a farmer preparing Panchagavya every other day. Thermal tests showed motor temperatures remained below 45°C, confirming mechanical stability.