Studies on ergonomic aspects of scythe in harvesting of berseem

Ergonomic studies were carried out on scythe to improve its design parameters. The independent variables were selected as grip height from bottom and blade length and their effect on the physiological responses like heart rate, postural configuration, overall discomfort rating of three subjects. Three levels of each independent variables were selected as G1 (0.64 SH), G2(0.66SH) and G3(0.68SH) of grip height from bottom and blade length viz. L1 (50.8 cm), L2(63.5 cm) and L3(76.2 cm). For subjects heart rate were found minimum (100.3, 105.0 and 102.0 beat per min) at L1G1 combination. The mean overall discomfort rating among the subjects varied from 2.67 to 6.67 and the minimum value was recorded for L1G1 combination for each subject. Net bending occurred in flexion for L1G1 combination for all subjects. Also at L2G2 combination all the physiological responses were found to be lower than for L3G3 combination.