ANIL KUMAR*, SANDEEP KUMAR ANTIL AND VIJAYA RANI
Department of FMPE, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
KVK, Sonipat (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : anilsaroha@hau.ac.in)
(Received : 06 September 2022; Accepted : 29 September 2022)
SUMMARY
The mechanical characteristics of paddy straw were evaluated in terms of shear and tensile strength with respect to variety, moisture content and inter node position. The parameters were determined for two varieties (PB – 1121 and HB – 2) at three levels of moisture content (20, 35 and 50% (wb)) and five internode positions (IN1, IN2, IN3, IN4 and IN5). The results showed that shear strength decreased with increase in moisture content, whereas tensile strength increased with an increase in moisture content. The shear and tensile strength both increased from first internode to fifth internode in both the varieties. The shear and tensile strength of PB-1121 was significantly higher (9 %) than HB-2 at each internode and all levels of moisture content. The paddy varieties contained carbon, oxygen, aluminium, silicon and other elements as confirmed by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The presence of more silicon in PB-1121 variety provided a strong reason for better mechanical properties as compared to variety HB-2.
Key words: Internode position, moisture content, paddy, shear strength, tensile strength