HYDERABAD, Dec 16: The Farm Machinery Institute, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council, has introduced a Thailand-made paddy threshing machine.

According to a statement, issued by the directorate of agriculture information here on Monday, the adaptability of the thresher has been tested in Sindh with encouraging results and to the farmers’ satisfaction.

A demonstration of the newly-introduced thresher will be held on Dec 20 in Shikarpur and rice growers of the upper Sindh are advised to witness the demonstration.

Due to suitability of the thresher, its localization has been arranged through local manufacturing, even in upper Sindh.

The thresher, which has grain output capacity of 1.5 to 2 tons per hour, is operated like a conventional wheat thresher by the tractor.

Its cleaning efficiency is 99 per cent, grain breakage almost nil, power requirement 65hp tractor, labour requirement four persons and fuel consumption 7 to 7.5 litres per hour.

The paddy harvesting and threshing is not yet mechanised in the country, except some area of Punjab and Sindh, where combine harvesters have been introduced.

Generally, paddy is harvested and threshed manually and the threshing is commonly done by beating paddy stalks on a drum. However, in Sindh, tractor treading is more common for the purpose. These methods are not only insufficient, but also cause high grain loss.