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Banana as a famous tropical and subtropical fruit, is one of the four most famous fruits in the world, which is a monocotyledon herb belonging to the fruit of the genus Musa (family Musaceae). Banana pseudo stem is the by-product of the planting process. The biomass of banana pseudo stem can reach 27 million tons, which is calculated according to the 2 600 strains per hm2 and pseudo stem's fresh weight of 35 kg per strain. Therefore, banana pseudo stem is a large quantity of agricultural waste of tropical zones in China. The soil nutrients and organic matter can increase soil organic content effectively, and improve soil structure, quality and yield of banana by returning chopped pseudo stem to field in time. The straw shattering and returning technology research are mainly concentrated on wheat straw, corn stover and by-products of other crops in domestic, such as rice and cotton. There are problems such as the excessive consumption of machine power, cutting tool damaged easily due to the winding of stem fiber, which needs further improvement to the machine. In view of the above problems, this paper designed a horizontal-shaft returning chopped machine, which was suitable for the banana pseudo stem that was bulky, brittle and with high moisture content. This paper described the overall design of the machine, and determined the structure parameters and working parameters of main parts, such as pushing device, roll-cutter feeding device and chopped device. The movement and force analysis of chopped blade was also carried out. This machine composed mainly of down device, roll-cutter feeding device, chopped device, leveling device, suspension mechanism and hood. It will by overturn, cut broken feed, crushing returning and leveling four processes to deal directly with banana pseudo. Pushing device mounted on the front of the tractor. Roll-cutter feeding device, chopped device and leveling device connected together in order from front to back on the rear of the tractor. Chopped device located inside the hood, and constitute the grinding chamber with hood. In the course of their work, roll-cutter feeding device and chopped device driven by the power output shaft of the tractor rear, leveling device scrolling rely on friction of between leveling roller and the straw residue on the ground. And this machine can be adapted to different operating environments and operating requirements by adjusting the working height of the suspension mechanism. Field experiments indicated that the chopped percent of banana pseudo stem had reached 96.6% with the 21.4 L/hm2 oil consumption, and the 0.42-0.46 hm2/h efficiency of machine. When the tractor's forward speed reached 2.16-3.60 km/h, the back power shaft output the speed of 720 r/min. The chopped stem's average length of 57 mm had satisfied the agronomic requirements of returning straw. The machine has advantages of excellent performance, simple operation, safe and reliable work, and remarkable ecological and economic benefit, which has a broad prospect for the promotion in the banana planting areas of the south of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bananas occupy an extremely important position in the world of fruit trade; it is the most important fruit in tropical and subtropical areas. China is one of the world's largest producers of bananas, and bananas have become an agricultural pillar industry in China's subtropical regions. However, the banana stalks are a major agricultural waste. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in 2010, 24 million tons of annual output of waste is banana straw in China. If such a large amount of waste straw is not handled in time, it would seriously pollute the environment and affect the renewal of the banana plantation. Because banana stalks are thick with a high level of moisture and other issues, there are less mature mechanical equipments for banana stalks treatment at the present. There are usually two main types of banana stalk treatment: one is to cut down and pile the stalk in the fields by laborers, and then let it rot; the other one is a centrally smash processing with machines. This kind of machine can achieve a certain crushing effect, but, due to the characteristics of its own design, can't achieve the field operations, and thus brings great inconvenience for the laborers. In view of above situations, according to craft about the banana stalks' crushing and returning in the field, this study designed a feeding type vertical shaft flail extracting machine for banana stalks' crushing and returning, and expounded the machine's overall configuration and the main components of the structure, and determined the key parameters of the optimal value through the analysis of the relationship between components and performance test. The machine could work directly in the field under the tractor traction, for the stalks to achieve down, tackle, grab, feed, crush and return. Field experiments showed that: with the speed for forwarding at 2.16 - 3.60 km/h, for the feed roller at 127.39 r/min, and for the vertical sling knife at 1080 r/min, this machine could achieve a qualification rate of straw smashing of 94.9%, field coverage of 88.61%, stem stubble height of 30 - 35 mm, energy consumption of 4.625 kg/h, and working efficiency of 0.39 hm2/h. This machine was easy to operate and its crushing effect was satisfactory. Its successful implementation could not only greatly improve the production efficiency, and solve the problem of large-scale banana cultivation facing massive stalks processing, but also prevent the pollution of the environment and had important economic and ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]