Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Banana Pseudostem

Banana and plantains are grown in about 120 countries. Total annual world production is
estimated at 86 million tonnes of fruits. India leads the world in banana production with an
annual output of about 14.2 million tonnes. Bananas are cultivated about 8,30,500 hectares
in India. Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra
are major states. In Tamilnadu alone, bananas are cultivated about 2.15lakhs of acres
leading to an estimated banana fibre extraction of around 43,000MT assuming 1000-1200
trees are planted per acre and each plant gives 300g of raw fibre. About 23,00,00,000 of
banana pseudostem is available in Tamilnadu alone. Now you imagine the size of raw
materials available in the world without utilizing.

1.1.1 Banana Fiber

Banana fiber is a natural fiber with high strength, which can blended easily with cotton
fiber or other synthetic fibers to produce blended fabric and textiles. Banana Fiber also
finds use in high-quality security/ currency paper, packing cloth for agriculture produce,
ships towing ropes, wet drilling cables etc.

1
Chapter 1. Introduction 2

1.1.2 Banana Value-added Products

The value-added products that can be developed from pseudostem are fiber and non-
woven fabrics, handmade papers and boards, vermicomposting, enriched sap, organic liquid
fertilizer, pickle, juice, cookies and candy, which are techno economically viable.

1.2 Problem

Despite solving the huge demand for mankind, it is not utilized properly and burnt or
mulched in the field which leads to huge pollution and creating a demand for raw materials.
Even though there are existing method and machine to extract banana fiber from the
pseudostem, not even 10 percent of the pseudostem is utilized. The main problem is
because of the inefficient and difficult cutting and transfer system practised by the people
in the field[1]. The labour cost is very high and no of trees pulled out from a field is very
less. The profit gained from the farmer is very less when compared to the work they have
done in the field.
Chapter 2

Plantation

2.1 Requirements

To understand the problem deep, I started analyzing the plantation[2] of banana plants,
where I found a few interesting facts.

2.1.1 Season

Different species of banana is grown at different months during the different session in
different places which can be seen in Table : 2.1. If I sum up all the difference then I
found the fact that banana is cultivated throughout the year across the globe.

Land Month Type of Banana

Poovan, Rasthalli, Monthan,
Wetland February to April and
Karpooravalli, Ney Poovan
April to May and Nendran
Garden Land January to February and Robusta, Nendran,D.Cavendish
November to December
Padugai lands January to February and Matti and Namari
August to September
Hill banana April to May and Namaran,Ladan,Manoranjitham
June to August Sirumalai and Virupakshi
Tissue banana Throughout the year Grand naine

Table 2.1: Banana Plant that grows in different region

3
Chapter 2. Plantation 4

2.1.2 Spacing

Different varieties have different spacing methods and based on the spacing methods the
no of suckers per acre is varied is shown in Table : 2.2. From that, I can able to come
up with a fact that 1240 suckers per acre or 3000 suckers per hectare are planted in an
average spacing of 2.1 x 2.1m.

Varieties Spacing(m) No of suckers / hectare No of suckers / acre

CO1 1.8x3.6 4600 1840
Udhayam 1.8x3.6 4600 1840
Grand naine 1.5x1.5 4440 1785
BRS1 1.8x3.6 4600 1785
BRS2 1.8x3.6 4600 1840
FIHA-01 3x2 1667 666
Saba 3x2.5 1333 533
Lacatan 3x3 1111 444
Rasthali 2.1x2.1 2267 907
Poovan 2.1x2.1 2267 907
Kaapoorvalli 2.1x2.1 2267 907
Montham 2.1x2.1 267 907
Robusta 1.8x1.8 3080 1232
Nendran 1.8x1.8 3080 1323
dwarf Cavendish 1.5x1.5 4440 1785
Ney Mannan 2.1x2.1 2267 907
Red banana 2.1x2.1 2267 907
Sanna Chenkadalai 1.8x3.6 4600 1840
Matti 1.8x3.6 4600 1840
Namarai 1.8x3.6 4600 1840
pachanadan 1.8x3 1850 740
Lacatan 3x3 1111 444
Average: 2996.090909 1237.227273

Table 2.2: Different Spacing of Varieties and it’s suckers per acre

2.1.3 Techniques

People use a different system of planting based on the field which varies the number of
plant production per hectare is shown in Table : 2.3. From this, I can able to come up
with a fact that the average plant distance of 1.5 x 1.5 gives an average production per
hectare of 4000 plants.
Chapter 2. Plantation 5

System of Planting planting distance(m) Plant Population per Hectare

Single Row 1.2 x 1.8 3000
Paired Row 1.2x1.2x2 5200
Pared Row 1.2Ö1.5Ö2.4 2808
Paired Row 1.0 x 1.2 x 2.0 6250
Square System 1.8x1.8 3025
Triangular System 1.5x1.8 3630
2-sucker/hill 1.8x3.6 3200
3-Sucker/hill 1.8x3.6 4800
Average: 4020.375

Table 2.3: System of Planting with planting distance and No. of Plants

2.1.4 Pseudostem Properties

Variety Height(feet) Girth(inches)

Kullan 7 25
Nendrapadathi 10 24
Nana Nendran 10 22
Attu Nendran 11 27
Myndoli 11 27
Moongil 11 27
Pacha Nadan 10 25
Kali 10 25
Kunnan 9 20
Karim kadali 11 22
Pey ladan 12 28
Mayil vazhai 9 23
Ney manam 10 26
Venneetu Mannam 10 26
Monthan 12 27
Pacha Montha Bathees 12 27
Sambrani Monthan 12 27
Buditha Montha Bathees 12 27
Nalla Bontha 12 27
Nalla Bontha Bathees 12 27
Thella Bontha 12 27
Kuri Bontha 8.5 25
Enna Benian 8.5 24
Adakka kunnan 9 20
Average: 10.46 25.21

Table 2.4: Height and Girth of different varieties of Pseudostem

Chapter 2. Plantation 6

Different variety has varied Height and Girth which is shown in the Table : 2.4. From the
table, I found the fact that the average height of pseudostem is 11 feet and the average
girth of pseudostem is 25 feet.

2.2 Observation

Based on the requirements section, the observation such as maximum, minimum and
average of the data can be found in Table:2.5. This helps define the parameters to find a
solution for the existing problem.

Properties Min Max Average

Height (feet) 7 12 10.5
Grift (inches) 20 28 25.21
Spacing (m) 1.5 x 1.5 3x3 2.1 x 2.5
No of Suckers/hectare 267 4600 2996.1
No of Suckers/acre 444 1840 1237.2
Weight 30 60 50

Table 2.5: Observation based on Requirements

2.2.1 Inference

ˆ There are a lot of varieties of banana species, Spacing methods, irrigation methods
to grow banana in a different session is found. By inferencing, the plantation and
irrigation, the width of the solution must not exceed 2m to fit into any farm.

ˆ Bananas will grow in most soils, but to thrive, they should be planted in rich, well-
drained soil. There a lot of planting system exists in India, few of such is Single row,
Paring row, triangle row, square system, 2 or 3 or 4 suckers/hill with Different type
of irrigation such as flood or furrow, Drip, Trench, Fertigation makes the different
orientation of plants in the soil. For the solution to move in that condition, tires or
moving mechanism needs to have certain traction to move in that condition.

ˆ On average, there are 4150 banana plant per hectare or 1250 banana plant per acre
of banana plants available in the field. The solution should take less than 30 seconds
Chapter 2. Plantation 7

to extract the stem from the plant and it should load in the truck to clear 1 acre of
a plant in a day.

ˆ The weight of the Banana pseudostem varies from 30 to 60 kg, height from 2 to 5
meter and diameter from 20 to 28 inches. so the solution should have the capability
to lifting 75kg and expandable to the height of 5 meters and above. The solution
should also be able to hold a diameter up to 30 inches. So that it can steadily hold
the grift and lift the pseudostem.

ˆ As we need to cut the banana pseudostem 0.25m above the soil for the next generation
growth, the ground clearance of soil and vehicle must be more than 0.5m to bypass
stem and leaf in the soil.
Chapter 4

Concept Evaluation

4.1 Parameter matrix

The parameters are chosen based on the problem requirements[3]. After defining the
parameters, I assigned the variable for the parameter in Table : 4.1 and parameter matrix
is calculated in Table : 4.2

symbol Parameters
a Output-[No.of stems cut in given time]
b Flexibility
c Manufacturing
d Height adjustable depends on plant
e Able to cut Slanted tree ( 0 to 90°)
f Separate machine or mounted with Existing vehicle
g Time taken to cut per stem
h Power Consumption
i Mechanism(Mechanical, Pneumatics, Hydraulics, Electronics)

Table 4.1: Parameters

After analyzing the parameter matrix, I can found the rank of the parameters which
mentioned in the Table : 4.3. This will help finalize the concept.

12
Chapter 4. Concept Evaluation 13

Parameters a b c d e f g h i
a 0 1 0 0.5 0.5 0 1 0 0.5
b 1 0 0.5 1 1 0.5 0.5 0 1
c 0 0.5 0 0.5 0 0.5 0 0 0.5
d 0.5 1 0.5 0 1 0 0.5 0.5 1
e 0.5 1 0 1 0 0 0.5 0 0.5
f 0 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0.5
g 1 0.5 0 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0.5
h 0 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0
i 0.5 1 0.5 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 0
Total: 3.5 5.5 2 5 3.5 1.5 3 0.5 4.5

Table 4.2: Parameter Matrix

Parameters Rank
Flexibility 1
Height Adjustable 2
Mechanism 3
Output 4
Slanted Tree 5
Time to cut 6
Manufacturability 7
Separated or Mounted 8
Power Consumption 9

Table 4.3: Parameter Rank

4.2 Concept Matrix

With the help of ranking, I gave weightage to each parameter and concept matrix is
calculated in Table : 4.4. For calculating the concept matrix[4], I kept concept 1 as the
base and evaluated other concepts by giving plus and minus based on the base product.

After the evaluation result from the matrix, I can figure out the best concept out of 6 from
Table : 4.5 and able to understand the important parameter.
Chapter 4. Concept Evaluation 14

Parameter Weightage C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
a 3 0 - 0 0 0 0
b 3 0 - + + + +
c 1 0 - 0 - 0 0
d 2 0 0 + 0 + +
e 2 0 - + + + +
f 1 0 - - - - 0
g 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
h 1 0 0 - - - 0
i 1 0 0 - 0 - 0
Total: 0 -11 4 2 4 7

Table 4.4: Concept Valuation

Concept Idea Rank

Concept 6 1
Concept 5 2
Concept 3 2
Concept 4 3
Concept 1 4
Concept 2 5

Table 4.5: Concept ranking

4.3 Inference

From the above table : 4.5, I can able to infer that concept 6 has highest ranking based
on the parameter I choose and the weightage given by me. And I also found an interesting
fact that some of the other concepts have few better plus points compared to concept 6
which needs to incorporate all in one roof and need to design and develop a better product
which solves the basic need.
Chapter 5

Design

5.1 CAD Model

Based on the evaluation matrix and parameter chosen, I came up with few CAD designs
which meet all the constraints based on the need.

5.1.1 CAD Concept 1

Rendered isometric view of the CAD concept 1 which can able to fix with the existing mini-
excavator shown in Picture : 5.2.Different views of the model are shown in the picture:
5.1. The idea of this concept is to have a fixed and small 360-degree rotating grappler in
which a chain saw is attached to cut down the tree. The advantage of the design is that I
can cut the tree in a different height with possible no of stem pieces form one pseudostem.

5.1.2 CAD Concept 2

After the CAD design 1, I did analyses and got feedback from mentor and improved my
design and made a quite decent improvement which satisfies most of the condition that
can be seen in the rendered picture of the isometric view in the picture: 5.3. Different
views of the model are shown in the picture: 5.4. As the chain drive is not sufficient for
the field, I go with tyres and structural changes for the arm has been done.
15
Chapter 5. Design 17

Figure 5.2: CAD Concept 1

Figure 5.3: CAD Concept 2

Chapter 6

Design Validation

6.1 Feasibility Study

To test and study about the feasibility, I calculated experiment values that populated in
the standard orthogonal array[5] to find how many units, labour and time needed to
process 1200 pseudostems.
Table: 6.1 is standard orthogonal array experiment values.

From the experiment, I can able to infer that 3 units with 9 labour in a shift at cutting
time of the 20s per tree, the loading time of 15s per tree, transporting time of 30s per
tree and tractor loading time of 15s per tree will clear an acre of the banana field which
has an average of 1200 plant.

6.2 Cost Estimation

After a feasibility study and everything, to know the cost of the product or to make a
prototype, I did a cost analysis and estimation, which came around 2Lakhs for developing
a prototype is shown in Graph:6.1.

19
Chapter 6. Design Validation 20

Factor
Transfer
Stem Field Time
Load Total No.of
Runs Units Labour cutting loading (Field
(Trailer) Time stems
time time to
Tractor)
1 1 1 15 15 15 15 60 60
2 1 1 20 30 20 30 100 36
3 1 1 30 40 30 40 140 26
4 1 1 40 50 40 50 180 20
5 1 1 60 60 60 60 240 15
6 1 2 15 30 30 60 135 53
7 1 2 20 40 740 15 170 42
8 1 2 30 50 60 30 170 42
9 1 2 40 60 15 40 155 46
10 1 2 60 15 20 50 145 50
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
41 3 6 15 50 60 15 140 463
42 3 6 20 60 15 30 125 518
43 3 6 30 15 20 40 105 617
44 3 6 40 0 30 50 150 432
45 3 6 60 40 40 60 200 324
46 3 9 15 60 20 60 155 627
47 3 9 20 15 30 15 80 1215
48 3 9 30 30 40 30 130 748
49 3 9 40 40 60 40 180 540
50 3 9 60 50 15 50 175 555

Table 6.1: Feasibility Study using standard Orthogonal array

Chapter 6. Design Validation 21

Cost Estimation
Total = 1,92,200

40000

32000

30000

20000 20000
20000
16000 15600
15000 15000 15200

Cost
7500 10000
6500 6900
5000 5000 5000
4000

1500 2000

0
r

e
or

re
p

or
s

on
e
g
w

ng
at
or
ee
de

e
lte

lv

re
m

ak
rin
Sa
ot

Ty
el

ot
Se
at

si
ni
Va
st
lin

Ty
Pu

Fi

Br
ev
M

ee
M

is
ul

hi
n

d
n
Cy

sm
lif

lL

ac
ai

lic

an
lic

St
a
o

d
Re
rb

cu
Ch

au
au

ro

M
lic

an
on

ls
Ca

Ac

nt
au

r
yd

Tr
H
yd

he
Co
yd
H

&
H

W
H

ne
gi
En

Materials and Components

Figure 6.1: Cost Analysis

Chapter 7

Conclusion

7.1 Summary

For my internship, I researched product development in Banana pseudostem cutting and

transfer systems. I started with analyzing the banana plantation for understanding deep
about the present scenario and for the constraints in which I need to keep in mind for
developing a solution. Then I started sketching the solution in which the problem can be
resolved. To solve the problem, there are many different ways, but to find the effective
way to solve a problem, I used concept valuation matrix and parameter valuation matrix
to found the best solution out of many concepts developed during the concept phase.

After finding the best concept, I started developing CAD models for the concept which
finalized during my concept evaluation phase. After completing the CAD model, I made
an animation using the CAD model. After completing the animation, I started analyzing
and at the same time, I also got suggestion and feedback from selected peoples. Then I
improvised my CAD model based on suggestion and feedback. Once the CAD model is
ready, I started making a feasibility study for my solution using to find how many units
with how many labours for how long will clear one acre of land with an average of 1200
plants. Once the feasibility study is done, I made a cost estimation for making a
prototype. These are the work that I done during my internship for this project.

22