The technology of cabbage harvesting with the use of the multiple-option harvester and the economic assessment of it

Abstract

BACKGROUND. In modern vegetable growing, mainly in conditions of small forms of management, low-cost technical means adapted to different agrotechnical and production conditions are the most in demand. Such a technical means, in particular, is a multivariate cabbage harvester of block design developed at the Chuvash State Agrarian University. AIMS – identification of the features of the technology of harvesting cabbage with the use of a new cabbage harvester and its economic evaluation by use cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The layout of a multivariate cabbage harvester is provided in three versions with the ability to clean cabbage heads according to various technological schemes: shipment of cabbages in bulk to the body of the vehicle; shipment of cabbages to containers installed in the body of a tractor transport unit; shipment of cabbages first on a flexible flooring or on the web of a belt conveyor installed in the body of a tractor trolley over containers; distribution the flow of heads along the body of a tractor vehicle using longitudinal conveyors of the lower or upper location and with the subsequent transfer of heads from them to containers manually. It is proposed to choose the named technological schemes of cabbage harvesting with the use of a multivariate combine harvester on the farm based on the prevailing agrotechnical and production conditions, taking into account labor, direct and reduced costs, given in the work by calculation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Based on the results of economic calculations, labor costs, operating costs and reduced costs are established according to the proposed schemes for harvesting cabbage with the use of a multivariate combine. The proposed cabbage harvesting options are economical in terms of labor costs, operating costs and reduced costs compared to the basic option (in-line harvesting). CONCLUSIONS. It is recommended to apply a specific scheme for harvesting cabbage using a multivariate combine based on the agrotechnical and production conditions in the farm, taking into account the results of the economic assessment.