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Publication
Strategies to Reduce Mechanical Harvesting Costs in Traditional Olive Orchards
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Olive harvesting mechanization is adopted in different types of olive orchards: traditional, intensive, in hedgerows.
In Mediterranean basin, traditional olive orchards have an important economic value. In this type of olive orchards planting densities are 100 to 240 trees per hectare, and over 30 years old.
In these olive orchards, the most used mechanical harvesting system is based on a trunk shaker to detach fruits, and an inverted umbrella to collect them.
With this harvesting system it is usual to collect 70% to 90% of the production.
The olives that remain in the tree is a problem. To solve it, farmers adopt manual harvesting as a complementary task.
This procedure increases the cost of harvesting with the addition of labour and reduces the mechanical harvesting system work rate (trees hour-1).
It is important to understand if this complementary manual harvesting is advantageous or not.
In field tests carried out in the Northeast of Portugal on traditional olive orchards with “Cobrançosa” and “Verdeal Transmontana”, cultivars, two different procedures were compared: (I) mechanical harvest performance complemented by manual harvesting; (II) mechanical harvest performance without the addition of manual work.
In both procedures were evaluated: a) work rate (trees hour-1); b) production harvested; b) associated costs; c) harvest efficiency considering it as the percentage of fruits collected in relation to total production.
To evaluate work rate system, a methodology based on measurement of each elementary operation time (in minutes) was adopted.
Costs was computed under international standards for agricultural machinery management.
The reduction in work rate and the increase in harvesting costs with complementary harvesting may be balanced by the increase in production that is harvested in this way. However, this does not seem to be the case, given the results presented.
Complementary manual harvesting may be a solution, but an evaluation of other agronomic and mechanical solutions is recommended.
Description
Keywords
Olive orchard Mechanization Trunk shaker Costs Labour
Citation
Almeida, Arlindo; Fernandes-Silva, Anabela (2024). Strategies to Reduce Mechanical Harvesting Costs in Traditional Olive Orchards. In AgEng 2024 - Agricultural Engineering challenges in existing and new agroecosystems: Proceedings Book. Athens: Agricultural University of Athens, p. 927-932. ISBN 978-618-82194-1-0
Publisher
Agricultural University of Athens