Abstract:
Shelling of groundnut pods using manual decorticators in Kenya is characterized by high kernel breakages and low
shelling efficiencies. As a result, farmers get low income due to low cost of broken kernels and a lot of time is lost in
the tedious shelling operation. To overcome this problem, pertinent parameters that influence shelling efficiency of
manually operated groundnut decorticators were identified. Two manually operated decorticators were tested and modi-fications done on one of the decorticators to optimize its technical performance. Results of machine performance tests
showed that for WBS (Wooden beater sheller) at a feed rate of 30 kg/hr and 22.6 mm clearance, shelling efficiency in-creased with decrease in moisture content for all the groundnut varieties. The highest shelling efficiency was 55.3% for
ICGV 99568, 39.2% for ICRISAT Groundnut Variety (ICGV) 90704 and 29% for ICGV 12991 at moisture content of
5.92% wb. For RBS (Rod beater sheller) at a feed rate of 30 kg/hr and 22.6 mm clearance, the highest shelling effi-ciency was 58.3% for ICGV 99568, 42.7% for ICGV 90704 and 35% for ICGV 12991 at moisture content of 7% wb.
Identification of the pertinent parameters showed that pod moisture content, clearance and sieve size influence per-formance of manually operated groundnut. Theoretical predictive models developed were optimized which showed that
a maximum shelling efficiency of 88.73% can be achieved with percent damage of 4% when the sieve size is 11 mm
and clearance is 16 mm with a regression coefficient of over 85 %. With the modifications done on the WBS decortica-tor, the highest shelling efficiency of 87% was obtained at a clearance of 10 mm for ICGV 99568 which is the largest in
size from the three varieties. The shelling efficiency of the modified decorticator is far above those of the RBS and
WBS because the sieve sizes and clearances of the later were not optimized. The results of the theoretical optimization
of the manually operated groundnut decorticator implies that farmers who shell for seeds can now obtain more seeds
shelled with low breakage and therefore will get more income.
