Evaluation of Labour under Manual and Mechanized Practices for Potato Production in Jordan Valley

Potato is considered a cash and strategic crop, important for human nutrition. in jordan, potato is usuallyproduced manually. to contribute sustainable self-sufficiency and meet the growing demands by farmers forprofitability, this research analyzed the labour performance under both mechanized and manual practices forsome processes in potato production in the jordan valley. the processes involve ridge making and dislocation oftubers, using two row tractor-drawn diggers. two approaches were used to evaluate the performance of theagricultural worker postures during potato production process: the ovako working-posture analysis system(owas) and the evaluation of various work postures method. results obtained show that the quality quantityproduct was improved under mechanized practices by 1.2 times as compared with manual practices. there was a93% reduction in work burden. these improvements were accompanied through maintaining 44% in the physicalfitness of the agricultural worker. results also reveal towards adopting mechanized potato practices in jordanvalley after promoting campaign.