Vol. 9, Issue 1, Part L (2025)

Konkan region of Maharashtra is one of the largest mango growing belts in the country and Alphonso is highly demanded fruit in the region, which has got lot of export value as well as potential of export. There are several limitations for farm mechanization in Konkan region. Therefore, tractor (above 35 hp) operated machines and related technologies have got very limited scope for farm mechanization in the region. Considering the problems of Konkan region, a small tractor operated raising platform was developed for harvesting, spraying and pruning operations. The basic components on machine consists of turntable, hydraulic tank, hydraulic pump, hydraulic motor, lifting arm, hydraulic cylinder, directional control valve, hydraulic oil flow pipeline and harvesting bucket. A small tractor (18.5 hp) was used to lift the platform up to 6 m height. The machine consists of two arms which rotates through 90^o in both clockwise and anticlockwise direction. The developed raising platform was tested for harvesting of mango. It was observed that as the tree height was increased, the lifting time and lowering time of arms for harvesting of mango also increased. The lowering time requirement was found to be less as compared to lifting time of bucket. The average time required for mango harvesting per tree was found to be 0.80 h. The average number of fruits harvested and weight of fruits harvested per tree were found to be 225 per h and 51.50 kg/h respectively. The field capacity of developed elevator was found to be 0.00078 ha/h. The developed small tractor operated raising platform (hydraulic elevator) worked satisfactorily for mango harvesting up to 6 m height.