Development and performance evaluation of power operated pea depoding machine for small and marginal farmers

Peas have an impressive nutritional profile as they are rich in proteins and contain all essential amino acids. They are nowadays being utilized as meat analogues due to their texture and high fibre content. Depoding of green peas is still a manual operation in India, making the operation a labour intensive and time consuming. A study was conducted to develop and evaluate pea depoding machine based on physical characteristics and engineering properties of pea. The average tri-axial dimensions in terms of L, B and T varied as10.61 mm, 9.23 mm and 8.11 mm for large pea, 9.28 mm, 8.55 mm and 7.85 mm for medium pea and 7.91 mm, 6.91mm and 6.26 mm for small pea pods. The corresponding porosity values were 87.27%, 91.91% and 91.45%, respectively. The moisture content was recorded as 80-85%, 70-75% and 60-65% after 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours. The mean angle of repose was recorded as 30.11° at 80-85%, 25.26° at 70-75% and 23.75° at 60-65% moisture content, respectively. The pea depoding machine comprised of frame, transmission system, conveying tray, rollers and conveying tray. The pea depoding machine was evaluated in terms of speed (150 rpm, 200 rpm and 250 rpm) and moisture content (80-85%, 70-75% and 60-65%) and responses were measured in terms of depoding capacity (kg h^-1), depoding efficiency, damage percentage, labour requirement (Man-h kg^-1) and un-depod percentage. The optimized parameters obtained through design expert 11.0 revealed depoding capacity of 15.36 kg h^-1, 97.43% depoding efficiency, 2.63% damage percentage, 0.06 Man-h kg^-1, labour requirement and 2.57% un-pod percentage. The cost of fabrication of pea depoding machine was 10,965 with 47 kg weight. The benefit-cost ratio, break-even point and payback period were calculated as 1.38, 1465 kg and 354.2 hours, respectively. The study can be instrumental for entrepreneurship and income augmentation of small and marginal farmers as well as rural youth.