Question

Define Combine.

Answer 1

Hint: Combine is a machine which is used in agricultural land by farmers for the harvesting of crops. Use of combines greatly reduced the manual labour of farmers. The invention of combines proved to be a boom in farming and agriculture.

Complete answer:
Combine is a harvesting machine which is mechanised in such a way that it performs reaping, threshing and winnowing of crops by use of this single machine only. Previously, when this machine was not invented, all procedures were performed by farmers only. This was very hard and lengthy, required laborious work and was time-consuming. The first process involved reaping, in which farmers cut down plants with long-handled cutting tools. Next, the process involved threshing, in which farmers separated grains from the chef and the last process involved winnowing, in which actual grains were separated from remaining debris to make them suitable for use in mills. The invention of combine reduced all these laborious work and now these processes are performed by using the single machine in a very short span of time and without any hard work. In combine harvesters, there are different types of headers to cut different types of crops. There is a rotating wheel which pushes crops towards the cutter. Sharp teeth like structure open and close to cut crops. A threshing drum inside separates grains from the chaff. Grains are collected in grain tanks. Chaff moves down the straw walkers towards the rear side of the machine from where it's thrown out. The grain tank gets unloaded when full. Leftovers on the field after harvesting should not be burned as it causes air pollution and also can damage existing crops in the field. The combine machine is used in the harvesting of various crops like wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, soybeans, flax, sunflowers, etc.

Note: Apart from the combine harvester, there are many other types of equipment utilized in the farming process like automatic row weeder, harvester and separator, robotic lettuce harvester. All these types of equipment are used on a small scale as well as large scale basis. Use of such equipment has greatly reduced farmer labour, time consumed and also increased production.