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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I express my heartfelt gratitude and sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr. E. V. Thomas for his excellent guidance, and academic and moral support throughout the research work.
He provided me with ideal balance of freedom to pursue my own ideas, and guidance to steer me in the right direction when I often needed it. I shall ever remain grateful to him for his valuable advice and constant encouragement during my period of stay at IIT, Kharagpur.
I am grateful to Prof. P.B.S Bhadoria, Head and Prof. R. Singh, former Head of the Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering for encouraging me to pursue my doctoral study at IIT, Kharagpur and extending all the research facilities.
I am very much thankful to Prof. K.P. Pandey, Prof. H.Raheman, Prof. B. Maity (Mechanical Engineering Department) and Prof. S. Kumar (Mathematics Department) for their critical observations and willingness to share their bright thoughts with me, which were very fruitful for shaping up my research. I am highly indebted to Prof. V.K. Tewari for his support and encouragement to carry out this research work. I am equally thankful to Prof. P. P. Nalawade and all the faculty members of the Department who have supported me directly or indirectly.
I express my sincere thanks to Vice-Chancellor, Deans, Directors and Head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Birsa Agricultural University for deputing me for Ph.D. program at IIT Kharagpur under Faculty Development Programme. Thanks are due to my esteemed colleagues especially Prof. Anil Kumar, Er. D.K. Rusia, Dr. I.A.
Ansari, Er. B. Oraon, Dr. S.K. Pandey, Er. M. Job and Dr. P. Rai for their inspiration and moral support at critical times of my tenure at IIT Kharagpur. I really missed the company of my beloved students (of BAU, Ranchi) during my stay at IIT Kharagpur.
During my stay at IIT Kharagpur, I happened to make friendship with Mr. Arun, Mr.
Avinash, Mr. Ashish, Mr. Ranjeet, Mr. Balaji, Mr. Debasish, Mr. Satya Prakash, Mr.
Vivek, Mr. Ankur, Mr. Brajesh, Mar. Sanjeev, Mr. Mrinmoy, Mrs. Sweeti, Mrs.
Swapanaja, Mr. Ashok and Mr. Manish who always extended their helping hands at the time of my need. They shall ever enshrine themselves at the top echelons of my friendship circle. I wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
I extend my appreciation and thanks to all the technical staff of the Farm Machinery Shed, FIM and ESA projects and farm laborers for their technical assistance at the time of fabrication of the experimental setup and field studies.
I cherish love of my father who showed me the joy of intellectual pursuit ever since I was a child. I am especially grateful to my grandmother for her blessings and whole hearted support. Words fail me to express my appreciation to my wife, Jharna whose love, patience, dedication and persistent confidence in me motivates me to work hard in life. I am thankful to my favorite kids, Raj Nandini, Pavitra and Kuldip for withholding his playing instinct with me and encouraging me to concentrate on my research.
Lastly, I express my sincere reverence to Almighty for guiding me in right direction from above at all times and equipping me with sufficient physical and mental strengths, skills and intelligence to carry out this work.
Kharagpur
July, 2013 (Uttam Kumar)
