AN ERGONOMICS ROLE IN HARVESTING MAKHANA FROM PONDS WITH IMPROVED SYSTEN

Makhana is a seed produced from an aquatic crop, which is normally grown in water bodies like ponds. In traditional way of harvesting, a worker goes deep into the bottom surface of pond, lies down, hold his breath and drag the mud with both hands towards the bamboo pole called "Khara" which is later sieved with bamboo screen called "Ganjaa". During this operation mud enters into the worker's ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Also, the workers get affected from skin related diseases due to unhygienic working environment. Therefore, an intervention was made and an improved system was developed. The improved system consists of a floating platform supported by 10 letre cylinder having compressed breathing air, 10 m hose pipe with regulator and a mini diving suit with cap, mask and content gauge. A comparative study was made for both traditional system (T1) as well as improved system (T2) for harvesting Makhana seeds from ponds. The results indicated that the average output was only 3.8 kg/h T1 system whereas it was 11.3 kg/ha with T2 system. The ODR was 8.3 in case of T1 system whereas it was 4.2 in case of T2 system. Also, the BPDS was higher with T1 (78.8) system as compared to T2 (48.2) system. The harvesting of Makhana seeds using the improved system involve less drudgery in comparison to traditional system with significantly higher work output.