Abstract
Mechanical harvesters with small box and semi-automated bin handling systems are increasingly being used for harvesting wild blueberries in Eastern Canada, and Northeastern, USA. However, their field capacity and performance have not been quantified and compared. Important measures of field capacity and efficiency for a traditional mechanical harvester were compared with a novel semi-automatic bin handling harvester. Data were obtained from on-farm field trials conducted at four sites in Nova Scotia, Canada in 2017 and 2018. Both harvesters had double head configurations, along with other similar engineering configurations: (i) 0.66 m picking reels; (ii) 16 picker bars per head and 65 teeth per bar; (iii) 1.72 m picking width; (iv) 21 rpm head speed; and (v) 0.31 ms−1 ground speed. Each harvester was operated for 120 min and data such as berry harvesting time and box handling time were recorded, with six replications during each year. Statistical methods were used to compare the harvest efficiency of the two mechanical harvesters. Harvest time efficiency was significantly higher for the semi-automatic bin handling technology than for the small box handling technology both in 2017 (p < 0.001), and 2018 (p < 0.001). Weed coverage did not have a significant effect of harvest time in either 2017 (p = 0.694) or 2018 (p = 0.765), though it did significantly affect yield in both 2017 (p = 0.011) and 2018 (p = 0.045). The findings provide useful insights for decision-makers contemplating the choice of harvesting technology to sustain profits from wild blueberry production.
Highlights
Wild blueberries are low growing plants with average height range from 0.10 to0.16 m [1]
The harvesters fitted with the small box handling and semi-automatic bin handling systems were operated by different harvester operators with similar skill and experience
Using a two-sample t-test it was determined that the mean harvest times in 2017 and 2018 were significantly different for both the small box handling system (p = 0.015) and the semi-automated bin handling system (p < 0.001; Table 3)
Summary
Wild blueberries are low growing plants with average height range from 0.10 to0.16 m [1]. Plant stems continue to grow until tip-dieback in July and development of floral buds starts from August until October. Wild blueberry fields are covered with snow, and plants remain dormant until the floral buds develop in Spring [3]. The wild blueberry crop is pruned by flail mower or burning in early Spring of the vegetative year or late in the fruit year after harvest. This is done to improve plant dominance by controlling grass and weed germination and to encourage more vigorous fruit producing stems to emerge in the subsequent year [1,4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
