Design, development and performance evaluation of minor millet de-husker

The study on the design and development of minor millet de-husker was done owing to the inability of existing millet de-huskers to meet the demand of tribal farmers. The existing millet de-huskers do not match the requirements such as size, capacity and price and are not popular in tribal hinterland. Keeping these points in mind a minor millet de-husker suitable for de-husking of kodo and little millet was designed with a capacity of 12 kg/h to meet out the requirements of the growers. It is composed of three basic units viz feeding unit, de-husking unit and discharge unit. The de-husking efficiency of minor millet de-husker was affected by moisture content of feed, feed rate, speed of rotating cone and the clearance between de-husking cones. The maximum de-husking efficiency for kodo millet was 48.5 and for little millet 52.0 per cent obtained at 167 and 150 rpm respectively at the feed rate of 12 kg/h. At the feed rate of 9 kg/h for kodo millet and 12 kg/h for little millet the maximum de-husking efficiencies were 48.74 and 52.21 per cent respectively. The de-husking efficiency was also affected by moisture content of feed and clearance between de-husking cones. At 12 per cent moisture content and 1.5 mm clearance the de-husking efficiency was maximum (50.0%) at the feed rate of 12 kg/h. From economic point of view the cost of processing per kilogram of feed was Rs 3.59.