Engineering properties of green chickpea plants and pods for machine design of a green pod stripper

Sustainable product development in agricultural mechanization increasingly relies on data-driven knowledge to design efficient technologies and improve the utilization of energy inputs. Physical and engineering properties of the green chickpea crop plants and pods are necessary for designing efficient stripping, handling, and storage equipment. Two varieties (PBG7 and PBG10) and two planting methods (Bed and Flat) were taken as independent parameters. Study investigated plant parameters (3 replications of each treatment) such as plant height, width, primary and secondary branch angles along with pod properties (3 replications of each treatment) including pod placement, length, breadth, thickness, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, weight, bulk density, and angle of repose. Plant architecture and pod engineering properties were measured and analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at p ≤ 0.05. Bed planting significantly increased plant height and width compared to flat sowing. Among the varieties, PBG10 was taller (79.4 cm) and more upright, producing pods having large geometric mean diameter of 14.7 mm by length (22.8 mm), breadth (11.8 mm), thickness (11.9 mm) and higher thousand pod weight of 833.5 g and sphericity of 64.5%, while PBG7 exhibited a wider branch angle (51.3°), higher bulk density (475.4 kg/m 3 ) and angle of repose (45.09°). PBG7 exhibited a bushier growth habit with a significantly greater plant width (50.6 cm) and produced a maximum of 53.5 pods per plant compared to 49.7 for PBG10. PBG7 pods were smaller, with mean dimensions of 20.77 mm (length), 9.59 mm (breadth), and 9.19 mm (thickness), and lighter, with a thousand pod weight of 590.71 g. Pod dimensions, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, thousand pod weight, and bulk density differed significantly between varieties, while the angle of repose did not differ significantly. This study provides important engineering information on green chickpea plants and pods for designing a mechanical green pod stripper. The findings can help in developing an efficient pod stripping machine by providing initial design parameters such as finger spacing, operating height, reel diameter and working width for different chickpea varieties.