Evaluation of mechanized and traditional harvesting methods of sesame in the north of Khuzestan province

Sesame harvesting is mainly done manually due to the use of dehiscence cultivars and high seed loss in mechanized harvesting. In recent years, with the introduction of non-dehiscence cultivars, the mechanized harvesting of sesame has become possible. In this study, the traditional and mechanized methods of sesame harvesting were investigated in terms of seed loss, cost, energy consumption and time required for harvesting. Data of traditional system were collected from farmers in Dezful, Shush and Andimeshk counties and data of mechanized system were obtained from Shahid Rajaei Agricultural production Company in Dezful. In the mechanized harvesting, the seed loss were measured in three amounts of seed planting rates (5, 10, and 12 kg/ha) and three ground speeds of the combine harvester (1.5, 2 and 2.5 km/h). The average seed loss in the combine was 4.83%, of which more than 94% was related to the combine header. The findings showed that with the increase in plant density, seed loss in combine is greatly reduced. The average labor in traditional harvesting was 315 labor-hours, which was 98 times more than in the mechanized method. The average cost of harvesting in traditional and mechanized methods was calculated as 49.4 and 2.7 million rials/hectare in 2019, respectively. The input energy in traditional and mechanized harvesting was 2088 and 1510 MJ/ha, respectively, that in the traditional method, human energy was the major part of the input energy. The results showed that the use of non-dehiscence cultivars and mechanized harvesting allows the development of sesame cultivation.