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The demand of natural fibres is increasing in the world for industrial uses to make high value products. An enormous potential of sisal fibre is present in Pakistan for making ropes, twines, paper, carpets, cloth and handicrafts, which has not been exploited so far. The aim of this study was to design and develop a small-scale portable sisal decorticator for extracting fibre from sisal leaves. A prototype of sisal decorticator was designed and fabricated at Agricultural and Biological Engineering Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad. The prototype machine was tested for fibre extraction. Results indicated that sisal fibre production capacity of this machine was 15.94 kg h-1 (dry fibre). Average yield of dry sisal fibre was 3.2% of green leaf weight and average fibre length was 1348.9 mm per leaf. Average power required to decorticate sisal leaves was 3.1 kW. Operating cost of sisal decorticator together with a combing machine was Rs. 507.9 h-1. The breakeven point or payback period of this technology was 233 h. Sisal fibre needs to be washed, dried and brushed after decortication process for getting good quality fibre to make domestic products. This technology has a great potential and needs to be commercialised in sisal growing areas of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat straw chopper is a resource conservation technology that makes chaff from combine-harvested wheat straw and saves the environment from smoke pollution, if straw is burnt in the field. Field performance of this technology has not been evaluated yet, although this technology has been adopted in Pakistan for many years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of an improved version of wheat straw chopper in combine-harvested wheat fields of southern Punjab and to determine the economics of this machine. Five test plots ranging from 0.39 to 0.61 ha were selected to determine the performance of this machine. Results revealed that a 75 hp tractor was suitable for operating this machine. Average operating speed of chopper was 2.7 km h-1. Average effective field capacity of chopper was 0.40 ha h-1 and field efficiency was 67.9%. Amount of chaff recovered was 2404 kg ha-1 and chaff recovery from straw was 61.1%. The operating cost of chopper setup was Rs. 5,262 ha-1. Total worth of recovered chaff was Rs. 24042 ha-1 (@ Rs. 10 kg-1). Net gain in terms of recovered wheat straw was Rs. 18780 ha-1. The break even point (use) of this machine for harvesting own fields and rental fields was 77 h (31 ha) and 266 h (105.5 ha), respectively. Wheat straw chopper is a profitable technology that is getting momentum in combine-harvested wheat fields of the country, which saves chaff for cattle feed and increases the benefit of the farmer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]