Monitoramento das perdas da colheita mecanizada de milho em função da velocidade de deslocamento e rotação do cilindro da colhedora

Abstract

The mechanized harvesting stage requires care since, during this operation, there are impacts from external factors (such as weather conditions, topography and shape of the area, presence of weeds, etc.) and internal factors (water content of the grain, plant nutrition and crop maturity) that directly affect yield crop and increase losses, resulting in reduced profit and increased costs. Therefore, this study's general aim was to monitor the losses incurred during mechanized corn harvesting as a function of travel speed and cylinder rotation, thus applying quality management techniques and improvement plans to mitigate losses during harvesting and optimize the operation. The study was conducted in a commercial growing area in the western region of Paraná, in Santa Helena city. The experimental design adopted was Statistical Quality Control (SQC), and the treatments were defined based on the settings of the corn harvester: travel speeds (5 and 7 km h-1) and cylinder rotation speeds (600, 700, and 800 rpm - rotation per minute). Data collection involved 15 sample points per treatment, totaling six treatments and 90 sample points. After collecting the data, the quality indicators were assessed based on the types of harvest losses and grain damage, which included: whole plant, cob, whole grains, broken grains and total losses (sum of all losses). The data was processed and analyzed using descriptive analysis, control charts of individual values and Pareto diagrams. These tools, the control charts and the Pareto diagram, played a crucial role in monitoring the operational quality of the mechanized harvesting system. As for the improvement plans, it was observed that, depending on the harvester setting, treatment 4 (7 km h-1 and 600 rpm) showed more losses, while treatment 3 (5 km h-1 and 600 rpm) recorded fewer losses, corresponding to an increase in losses of R$ 91.71 per ha between treatment 4 and 3. Therefore, it was concluded that an increase in travel speed combined with low rotation leads to greater losses. The recommended setting for the region was 5 km h-1 and 600 rpm. Keywords: Economic analysis. Control charts. Pareto diagram. Adjustments. Zeamays L.