Sunflower Seed Extractor
Details: The farmers in Lakhanpal’s village faced difficulty in extracting the seeds of sunflower due to the shortage of manpower. They grew sunflower at a large scale but were unable to get good return while selling sunflower without extracting seeds. He enquired about machines available for the purpose but found them to be costly and out of reach of farmers like him. Therefore he started developing low cost machine for separating seeds from sunflowers at a minimal cost. His sunflower seed extractor is powered by a 1 hp motor and has a series of rubber belts as beating unit, which strikes the sunflower, resulting in its deseeding. Its capacity is 40 kg/h with deseeding efficiency > 95% and percentage damage < 1%.
Innovator: Lakhanlal Patel, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh
State: Raigarh, Chhattisgarh
Funding agency: Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India
Implementing institute: National Innovation Foundation India (NIF), info.nif@nifindia.org
Benefits
Increased Efficiency and Profits: By automating seed extraction, it reduces reliance on labor and allows farmers to process sunflower heads faster, potentially increasing profits. Low-Cost Solution: Designed to be affordable, it makes seed extraction accessible to small-scale farmers who couldn't afford expensive machines. High Efficiency and Minimal Damage: With a capacity of 40 kg/hour and over 95% deseeding efficiency, it maximizes seed yield while minimizing damage to the seeds.