Crop Research invents cassava harvester

Scientists at the Crop Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research have developed a simple energy saving-tool for harvesting cassava.

The simple metallic tool unlike the traditional method of uprooting tubers of cassava requires simple energy.

Farmers with large cassava farms for instance have often reported health challenges especially waist and body weakness associated with old harvesting tools such as hoes and cutlasses.

They resort to contracting laborers to assist with harvesting.

Laborers for instance charge between 20 and 40 Ghana Cedis per day depending on the type and size of land.

But development of the harvester which operates according to the grip and its principle will help address these challenges and relief farmers from drudgery.

The original design was first adopted from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria.

Several modifications have since been made to overcome some of its design constraints.

The CRI-Manual Harvester consists of a frame to which an immovable griping jaw is attached and a chisel tip which serves as the base for lifting cassava from the soil.

Its chisel tip can also be used to dig out cassava roots especially in hard and dry soils, where the grip and lip principle becomes difficult to employ due to the tendency of high root tuber damage or breakage.

Its total weight of five kilograms makes it possible for even women and children to easily operate and use the tool for manual cassava harvesting.

It took them four years to perfect the simple but efficient energy-saving harvesting tool.

At a farmer training workshop on the improved manual cassava harvesting tool, farmers who tried using the tool were elated with how easy it is to use.

65 year-old Akua Attaa and her colleagues easily operated the tool to uproot cassava from CSIR demonstration farms.

Lead researcher for the project, Shadrack Kwadwo Amponsah is optimistic this will help farmers improve harvesting.

Mr. Amponsah revealed plans to train artisans across the country on the benefits of the simple tool.