Statistical evaluation of reliability indicators of potato harvesting process

According to agrotechnical requirements, the technological process of potato harvesting should be carried out in a short period, with minimal losses of the grown yield and preservation of its quality. The fulfillment of these requirements depends on the organization of harvesting operations, the qualifications of employees, the technologies involved, the technical aids used, as well as natural and climatic conditions. Based on this, the authors propose to consider the potato harvesting process as the functioning system "man-machine-environment-transport", the main evaluation indicator of which is its reliability, determined by the probability of reliable operation of the system. Basing on the method of time-lapse observations, the analysis of the time characteristics of the operational and inoperable states of the system arising from the reasons of the "failure" elements included to it is carried out. Experimental studies were conducted during three harvesting seasons in the training farm of the Irkutsk State Agrarian University using a potato harvesting unit PPC-2-01+МТZ-80 by direct combining. Statistical processing of the empirical data obtained enabled to reveal a number of regularities in the reliability indicators of the potato harvesting process and quantify the unproductive time waste during the working day when performing managerial, technical and technological functions.