Biomechanical model for energy consumption in manual load carrying on Indian farms

This study pertains to manually carrying load in Indian farms. Different modes are adopted for carrying farm inputs and farm produce; head, shoulder and back. A biomechanical model was developed and validated to predict metabolic energy consumption for carrying load manually by varying modes, loads and ground inclinations. The model developed incorporated operator, ground inclination and load parameters. Operator parameters included human efficiency, body weight and height of the worker. Load parameters considered were weight of load and mode of load carrying. Experiments on three modes (head, back and shoulder) and three loads (10, 15, 20 kg load) at three slopes (0, 5, 10%) were conducted in a laboratory set up. Twelve farm workers (six males and six females) working in local farms participated in the study. The model closely predicted energy and rest requirement for load carrying in different modes.