Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Introduction Maize (Zea mays L.) said to have originated in tropical zones of America is the third most important cereal crop in the world, next to wheat and rice. World maize production is estimated 856million tons in 2011/2012 (Ashwin and Shaik, 2014). Maize contains starch (60%-880%), protein (88%-12%), fat (3%-5%) and minerals (1%- 5%) Sexena et al. 1 It is the cheapest source of starch, protein nutrients for human being and animals and serving as a basic raw material for the production of starch, oil and protein, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners and, more recently, fuel. In Ethiopia, maize grows from moisture stress to high rainfall areas and from lowlands to the highlands. It is one of the most important cereal crops grown in the country and is the main staple food in rural areas. It accounts over 14% and 18% in terms of land area coverage and productivity respectively with higher annual growth rate. Ethiopia is the largest maize producer in Eastern and Southern Africa. Over 8 small holder farmers are engaged in maize production and this accounts 28% the total cereal production. The total maize production in 2010/2011 was estimated 4.98 million tons Demeke et al. 2 The overall productivity of maize is affected by many factors including lack of post-harvest technologies, such as shelling. Maize kernels should be removed from cob to be used as seeds, prepare value addition, improve handling and storage as well as maintain its quality. Shelling which refers removal of kernel from cob is an important post-harvest operation in maize production. Shelling can be carried out in the feld or on the farm. Maize shelling is diffcult at moisture content above 25%, with this moisture content, grain stripping effciency is very poor with high operational energy and causing mechanical damage to the seed. A more effcient shelling is achieved when the grain has been suitably dry to 13 to 14% moisture content Danilo et al. 3 Maize shelling in Ethiopia is mainly carried out using traditional methods. The most commonly employed methods include manual rubbing maize cobs against one another,, using human fnger, biting the cob with wooden plank, treading with animal. Likewise the grain can be detached from the cob with the use of pestle and mortal. All these traditional maize shelling methods are highly tedious, ineffcient; do not support large- scale shelling of maize requiring a lot of labor and time with low productivity as a worker can only shell a few kilograms per hour. 4 Kernel damages in the form of bruiser, crack or breakage are inevitable during these shelling methods. Such kernel damage facilitates the infestation of feld pests during storage. Attempts were in the past to develop and introduce engine driven and tractor driven high capacity Sheller’s. The technology though perfect is not within the reach of marginal farmers. Existing motorized Sheller are too expensive to be purchased by resource poor smallholder farmers. The cost of hiring to get the service is even high for most farmers. Bahir Dar Agricultural Mechanization and Food Science Research Center has adapted cylindrical hand operated and motorized maize Shellers and preliminary demonstration reveals that farmers have shown interest to use them. Thus, there is a need to introduce this implement that reduces post- harvest loss, increase labor effciency in time and avoid the drudgery and harms to the hand of men and women farmers. Thus, there was a need to demonstrate both of the machines and collect feedback from farmers that are useful for future promotion and modifcation activities. This was supported by the national strategy that states further strengthening the introduction of suitable post-harvest tools. Therefore, this research activity is conducted; (1) to create awareness in hand-held maize Sheller, and (2) to collect farmers’ opinion on the future dissemination and use of the technologies and hence contribute to the improvement of the productivity and drudgery of smallholder maize producing farmers. Experimental sites This experiment was conducted in Amhara region, North West Ethiopia. Demonstration sites were selected purposively based on intensity of production in collaboration with experts from Woreda MOJ App Bio Biomech. 2017;1(3):93‒98. 93 © 2017 Amare et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Evaluation and demonstration of maize shellers for small-scale farmers Volume 1 Issue 3 - 2017 Dagninet Amare, 1 Wolelaw Endalew, 2 Negese Yayu, 2 Asmamaw Endeblihatu, 3 Worku Biweta, 3 Abu Tefera, 3 Solomon Tekeste 3 1 Amhara Agricultural Research Institute, Ethiopia 2 Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia 3 Amhara Metal Engineering and Machine Technology Development Enterprise, Ethiopia Correspondence: Dagninet Amare, Amhara Agricultural Research Institute, Bahir Dar-Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Email dagnnet@gmail.com Received: October 13, 2017 | Published: October 24, 2017 Abstract Reducing post harvest losses is a central task to ensure food security and increase income of smallholder farmers as well as facilitate food availability to local and international markets. Maize is one of the major food crops produced in Ethiopia and with high post losses. The stages of post harvest loss span from harvesting to final consumption. Threshing or shelling is one of the major stages of post harvest loss in maize production. Traditional threshing incurs huge loss, is full of drudgery and consumes time. To reduce the loss and improve the working condition of our farmers, Bahir Dar Agricultural Mechanization and Food Science Research Center (BAMFSRC) adapted two maize Shellers; viz, cylindrical (also known as handheld) and motorized Shellers. These technologies were demonstrated and evaluated by farmers in different parts of Amhara Region. The results indicated that these technologies, part of the small and medium mechanization tools, are compatible to the smallholders. Scaling out and up of these technologies through supply and demand driven mechanisms is essential to realize the benefits from employing the technologies. Keywords: handheld maize sheller, motorized thresher, traditional shelling MOJ Applied Bionics and Biomechanics Review Article Open Access