Development and Performance Evaluation of an Experimental Cotton Picker Setup Under Different Operational Parameters

Cotton cultivation and production have increased significantly over the years; however, cotton harvesting remains one of the most labour-intensive and expensive operations in India. Labour scarcity, rising wage rates, multi-picking practices, and small land holdings make large-scale mechanical harvesting unsuitable for Indian conditions. To address these challenges, the present study aimed to design, develop, and optimize an experimental cotton picker setup suitable for the semi-mechanized harvesting of Indian cotton varieties. The novelty of the study lies in the optimization of roller number, rotational speed, and convergence angle in a converging roller-based cotton-picking mechanism for multi-picking conditions, with the optimum identified among the tested treatment levels. Experimental setup consisted of a prime mover, variable frequency drive, main frame, reversible gear box, converging picking rollers assembly and plant conveying setup. The performance of the setup was investigated by varying the number of rollers (6 and 8), roller speed (140–200 rpm), and convergence angle (4°–8°). Among the tested conditions, with 6 picking rollers in the parasol arrangement (Case I), maximum picking efficiency was found to be 62.8% at 200 rpm and 4° convergence angle but resulted in high trash content and lower collection efficiency; reducing the rear-end clearance (Case II) increased picking efficiency to 77.8%. With 8 picking rollers, maximum picking efficiency was found to be 82.1% at 200 rpm and 4° convergence angle. Thus, operating 8 picking rollers (Case III) at 140-170 rpm with a converging angle between 4°-8° resulted in effective performance with less calyx content and high collection efficiency.