A K’Ho farmer, who completed only the 9th grade and has never attended any mechanical training, has successfully modified a corn shelling machine, increasing labor productivity by dozens of times compared to manual methods. This farmer is K’Sá Ha Tang, residing in Thon I, Da Sar Commune, Lac Duong District, Lam Dong.
Da Sar Commune, where K’Sá Ha Tang lives, is a poor area primarily relying on subsistence farming. Corn is the main staple crop for the local people. Out of about 500 households in the commune, nearly all cultivate corn. For those with larger plots, harvesting can yield several hundred bags, but shelling a single bag of corn by hand can take nearly a full day’s labor. This challenge troubled Ha Tang, prompting him to take on the task of creating a tool to help his family and the community save time in shelling corn.
During a visit to Duc Trong District, Ha Tang observed a corn shelling machine that the locals were using. However, he found that this machine had limitations: it crushed the corn husks and even damaged some corn kernels due to its strong impact. Additionally, the machine was bulky, making it suitable only for flat terrains and good road access, which posed a challenge for the hilly region of Da Sar.
Despite lacking formal education and not having guidance from any officials or engineers, Ha Tang remained determined to build the corn shelling machine he envisioned.
After three years of struggling with hundreds of assembly and disassembly attempts and replacing various components, Ha Tang’s joy erupted at the end of 2003 when he completed his corn shelling machine. The design of this machine is quite simple: it consists of a few rotating devices, a belt, and gears taken from a rice shelling machine, a device for pressing kernels, and a fan for sorting kernels. All these components are neatly encased in a tidy metal shell. The convenience of this machine lies in its ability to operate using an electric motor, a diesel engine, or manually. When corn cobs are fed into the machine (four at a time), the kernels and husks are separated without being crushed. Shelling one bag of corn now takes only about 5 minutes.
With this invention, K’Sá Ha Tang was selected by the Ministry of Science and Technology as one of 15 “Grassroots Scientists” to participate in the 2005 Vietnam Technology and Equipment Fair.
