Thursday, 17 July 2014

A case of Coconut & its Harvesting

The Coconut is a big consumable food item in the coastal regions and among many communities of our country. The coconut oil though being made to look as a dangerous for the long term health benefits is actually very good for health. In many of the culinary shows the non-Indian oils like Olive oil and others are being promoted. The foolish public are developing new taste senses and have pleasurable feeling due to consumption of olive oils and other foreign foods.

The principle of survival of the fittest is being accepted as the process of evolution, which in itself is highly debatable. But on the face of it, it is argued that when plants they make their seeds/fruits, better properties are passed for the continuity of the species. Thus in any given area the flora and fauna tend to fight the environment and aim for survival.  By this principle, it is a belief that local food consumption is better for the health on a regular basis than having foreign food. It is acceptable to have foreign/alien foods once in a while.

Animals are more dependant on plants because for the need for food which plants can make by photosynthesis while the animals can either other animals or plants. In the whole the food chain is more important and a lot of importance is to be given to the local foods than to alien foods. The long term effects are never studied because it will affect the short term gains for the corporations, societies and other for profit organizations.

Many of the systems and technologies that have been invented by us have an inspiration from nature and so far the reverse has not happened. with the shortage of manpower in general and agricultural labour in particular many activities are being mechanized and many patents are being generated with the purpose of making money. If not the innovator, the manufacturer will make profits, since some one has to make profit let us all make profits. This the modern mantra is development.

In this scenario, the coconut harvesting is a typical case. Many mechanisms have been developed for climbing up the coconut tree and then felling the coconuts to the ground. The tree climber charges the farmer either on basis of per tree, per coconut, per hour or any other basis and it will not be anywhere near cheap labour. There is also a shortage of tree climbers and there is a professional hazard of falling from the tree tops. Even though a number of mechanism have been developed their use has been limited due to the cumbersome nature of the machines.

In the present day, there is a wild fetish for electronic gadgets and remote/wireless control of machines. A flying machine has become a reality with Amazon delivering products, NETRA for surveillance are in use. The quadri-copter is being used for many applications and the load capacity is currently being limited due to the on-board battery whose weight is considerable and also limited the capabilities of the machine. The flying machines can be an answer to the coconut harvesting problem.

The flying machine should be provided with a cutting mechanism which may be a simple cutting wheel, scissor or like that of a wood pecker and attached with a camera. the machine when in flight should be operated manually using a control panel but should be wired to supply higher voltage from the ground operator. The weight of battery is replaced by the cutting mechanism and due to the presence of wire the weight of light gets added but will be negligible due to ability to transfer higher voltage. 

One such mechanism can be a solution to harvesting of even fruits, vegetables if provided by a proper collecting arrangements.

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