Harvesting Operations Research Articles

Implementation of a human‐aware robot navigation module for cooperative soft‐fruit harvesting operations

AbstractIn the last decades, robotic solutions have been introduced in agriculture to improve the efficiency of tasks such as spraying, plowing, and seeding. However, for a more complex task like soft‐fruit harvesting, the efficiency of experienced human pickers has not been surpassed yet by robotic solutions. Thus, in the immediate future, human labor will probably be still necessary for picking tasks while robotic platforms could be used as collaborators, supporting the pickers in the transportation of the harvested fruit. This cooperative harvesting strategy creates a human–robot interaction (HRI) that requires significant further development in human‐aware safe navigation and effective bidirectional communication of intent. In fact, although agricultural robots are considered small/medium size machinery, they still represent a risk of causing injuries to human collaborators, especially if people are not trained to work with robots or robot operations are not intuitive. Avoiding such injury is the aim of this work which contributes to the development, implementation, and evaluation of a human‐aware navigation (HAN) module that can be integrated into the autonomous navigation system of commercial agricultural robots. The proposed module is responsible for the detection and monitoring of humans working around the robot and uses this information to activate safety actions depending on whether the human presence is considered at risk or not. Apart from ensuring a physically safe HRI, the proposed module deals with the comfort level and psychological safety of human coworkers. The latter is possible by using an explicit human–robot communication strategy that lets both know of the other's intentions, increasing the level of trust and reducing inefficient pauses triggered by unnecessary safety actions. The proposed HAN solution was integrated into a commercial agricultural robot and tested in several situations that are expected to happen during cooperative harvesting operations. The results of an usability assessment illustrated the benefits of the proposal in terms of safety, efficiency, and ergonomics.

Scheduling of forest harvesting operations on multiple cut blocks using multi-task machines

ABSTRACT The modernization of forest harvesting operations has significantly increased the cost of machine ownership and has turned forest harvesting into a capital-intensive process. To increase productivity and profitability, some companies have acquired multi-task harvesting machines. While many previous papers focused on optimizing the harvest scheduling to reduce the costs of harvesting, the assignment of multi-task machines was not considered in their models. In this work, an optimization model is developed for the detailed scheduling of harvesting activities on multiple cut blocks using multi-task machines. This model is a continuation of previous work on detailed harvest scheduling. It prescribes the start time and the end time of operations of each machine at each cut block, the number of machines to be assigned for each harvesting activity at each cut block, the cut block that the machine should move to after completing its operation at a cut block, and the type of activity it should perform. It is applied to a case study of a forest company in Canada. According to the results, the total harvesting cost decreased by Can$ 25,000 when multi-task machines were used compared to exclusive machines, due to less machine movement and the need for fewer machines.

Estimation of the occurrence, severity, and volume of heartwood rot using airborne laser scanning and optical satellite data

ABSTRACT Rot in commercial timber reduces the value of the wood substantially and estimating the occurrence, severity, and volume of heartwood rot would be a useful tool in decision-making to minimize economic losses. Remotely sensed data has recently been used for mapping rot on a single-tree level, and although the results have been relatively poor, some potential has been shown. This study applied area-based approaches to predict rot occurrence, rot severity, and rot volume , at an area level. Ground reference data were collected from harvester operations in 2019–2021. Predictor variables were calculated from multi-temporal remotely sensed data together with environmental variables. Response variables from the harvester data and predictor variables from remotely sensed data were aggregated to grid cells and to forest stands. Random Forest models were built for the different combinations of response variables and predictor subsets, and validated with both random- and spatial cross-validation. The results showed that it was not possible to estimate rot occurrence and rot severity with the applied modeling procedure (pR2: 0.00–0.16), without spatially close training data. The better performance of rot volume models (pR2: 0.12–0.37) was mainly due to the correlation between timber volume and rot volume.

РЫХЛЕНИЕ ПОЧВЫ ПЕРЕД РАБОТОЙ СВЕКЛОУБОРОЧНЫХ КОМБАЙНОВ

Sugar beet is an important industrial crop, which, in addition to sugar, contains vitamins, organic acids, microelements, fiber, fructose, etc. Processed products such as pulp and molasses are widely used in animal husbandry. An analysis of long-term observations showed that in dry years, with a decrease in soil moisture by 3-8%, its hardness increases to 47%. At the same time, the shift output of combines decreases, and the average specific fuel consumption per hectare increases and there is an increased wear of the digging working bodies. We studied the effect of loosening the soil before the operation of beet harvesters on the force of extracting root crops, increasing the productivity of combines and reducing specific fuel consumption. In a search experiment to identify the ability of a needle disk to loosen the soil layer and possibly reduce its ability to hold root crops, a prototype soil cultivator was developed. In order to identify the most efficient operation of the ripper, the number of teeth (needles) was changed: 8 - 10 - 12 and the depth of the teeth from 5 to 15 cm in increments of 5 cm. extraction force. During the search experiment, indicators characterizing the physical and mechanical properties of the soil were taken. An analysis of the working bodies of soil rippers was carried out and a model sample of a needle disc ripper was developed. The conducted field tests have shown a decrease in the force of retaining root crops by the soil after the passage of the developed cultivator, which in turn can help reduce the resistance to the work of diggers and, as a result, increase the efficiency of beet harvesters.

Safe Working Practices and Knowledge in the Practice of Sustainability: A Narrative in the Context of a Forest Operation in a Brazilian Pulp Industry

This study articulates the concepts of sustainability and work safety to understand how safe working practices enable knowledge in the practice of sustainability. Anchored in the lenses of the learning process of practiced-based studies, we conducted a case study of qualitative nature in a forest harvest operation of a Brazilian company with sustainability in the core of its business strategy. We adopted as collection tools in-depth observation, semi-structured interview, and documental research, which were assessed by the thematic analysis of narratives. As results, we identified that the learning process of sustainability occurs in this context in a combination of institutional mechanisms and practices located at the occupational communities. Among those, the safe working practices indicate being capable of enabling the knowledge in practice of the systemic and integrative perspective, carefulness, responsibility, and look to the future, reflecting the assumptions contained in the ideal of sustainability. We also verified that, with the practices, this group has been establishing alliances, building common concepts, and producing and reproducing practices that change the way of learning sustainability.

Best operation strategies for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters. I. Theory

This paper is the first part of a three-part series. A general scheme of controlling the operation of piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters is proposed. It covers schemes proposed in literature as particular cases. The focus is on base-excited vibration energy harvesters.

Knowledge Discovery and Diagnosis Using Temporal-Association-Rule-Mining-Based Approach for Threshing Cylinder Blockage

Accurately diagnosing blockages in a threshing cylinder is crucial for ensuring efficiency and quality in combine harvester operations. However, in terms of blockage diagnostic methods, the current state of affairs is characterized by model-based approaches that can be highly time-consuming and difficult to implement, while data-driven approaches lack interpretability. To address this situation, we propose a temporal association rule mining (TARM)-based fault diagnosis method for identifying threshing cylinder blockages and discovering knowledge. This study performs field trials by varying the actual feed rate and obtains datasets for three blockage classes (slight, moderate, and severe). Firstly, a symbolic aggregate approximation (SAX) method is employed to reduce the data dimensionality and to construct the transaction set with a sliding window. Next, a cSpade method is used to mine and extract strong association rules by applying improved support, confidence, and lift indicators. With the established strong association rules, this study can comprehensively elucidate the variation pattern of each characteristic under several blockage failure conditions and can effectively identify blockage faults. The results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively distinguishes between three levels of blockage faults, achieving an overall diagnostic accuracy of 0.94. And the method yields precisions of 0.90, 0.92, and 0.99 and corresponding recalls of 0.90, 0.93, and 0.98 for slight, medium, and severe levels of blockage faults, respectively. Specifically, the knowledge acquired from the extracted strong association rules can effectively explain the operational characteristics of a combine harvester when its threshing cylinders are blocked. Furthermore, the proposed approach in this study can provide a reasonable and reliable reference for future research on threshing cylinder blockages.

Field Complete Coverage Path Planning Based on Improved Genetic Algorithm for Transplanting Robot

The Complete Coverage Path Planning (CCPP) is a key technology in the field of agricultural robots, and has great significance for improving the efficiency and quality of tillage, fertilization, harvesting, and other agricultural robot operations, as well as reducing the operation energy consumption. The traditional boustrophedon- or heuristic-search-algorithm-based CCPP methods, when coping with the field with irregular boundaries, obstacles, and other complex environments, still face many problems and challenges, such as large repeated work areas, multiple turns or U-turns, low operation efficiency, and prone to local optimum. In order to solve the above problems, an improved-genetic-algorithm-based CCPP method was proposed in this paper, the proposed method innovatively extends the traditional genetic algorithm’s chromosomes and single-point mutation into chromosome pairs and multi-point mutation, and proposed a multi-objective equilibrium fitness function. The simulation and experimental results on simple regular fields showed that the proposed improved-genetic-algorithm-based CCPP method achieved the comparable performance with the traditional boustrophedon-based CCPP method. However, on the complex irregular fields, the proposed CCPP method reduces 38.54% of repeated operation area and 35.00% of number of U-turns, and can save 7.82% of energy consumption on average. This proved that the proposed CCPP method has a strong adaptive capacity to the environment, and has practical application value in improving the efficiency and quality of agricultural machinery operations, and reducing the energy consumption.

Herbicides Roundup (Glyphosate) and Paraquat (Gramoxone) as chemical ripeners for sugarcane variety SP70-1143 (A case study at Debel Khozaie Agro-Industrial Co.)

In the Khuzestan province of Iran, sugarcane harvesting is normally carried out between the early November and March periods, when rain and frost risks occur. This results in delayed harvesting and reduced profitability due to cane deterioration and a reduction in cane sucrose content. Management strategies such as the application of chemical ripeners were hypothesized to tackle such challenges by harvesting the crop earlier when the natural ripening condition was poor. Consequently, paraquat and roundup herbicides were applied as chemical ripeners to investigate the effect of their application time and rate on accelerating the ripening quality of the sugar cane variety SP70-1143 using a split-plot design. The treatments were control (unsprayed) [T0]; 1.0 Lha<sup>−1</sup> Paraquat (250 ppm) applied 8 weeks before harvesting (8WBH) [T1]; 0.8 Lha<sup>−1</sup> Roundup (200 ppm) applied 8WBH [T2]; 1.0 Lha<sup>−1</sup> Paraquat (250 ppm) applied 5 weeks before harvesting (5WBH) [T3], and 0.8 Lha<sup>−1</sup> Roundup (200 ppm) applied 5WBH [T4]. The results indicated that the glyphosate application treatments T2 and T4 induced a significant improvement in the sugarcane juice quality through an increase in Brix%, Pol%, %purity, and commercial cane sugar (CCS%) starting 1 week after their application. The results also confirmed the feasibility of an earlier harvesting operation on November 1st, one month before normal harvesting time in the study area, without significant loss of sucrose by application of 0.8 Lha<sup>−1</sup> Glyphosate (roundup), 8WBH.

Test and evaluation of driving comfort of rice combine harvester.

During the field operation of rice combine harvester, the vibration generated by vibration component will only reduce mechanical reliability and yield, but also cause resonance in the human body, leading to a decrease in driving comfort and even damage to the driver's health. To study the impact of combine harvester vibration on driving comfort, a certain type of tracked rice combine harvester was selected as the research object, and vibration tests were carried out based on vibration source analysis in the driving cab during field harvesting operations. The study showed that under the influence of field road conditions and crop flow, the operating speed of the engine, threshing rotor, stirrer, cutting blade, threshing cylinder, vibration sieve and conveyor were fluctuating, and their rotation and reciprocating motion would produce vibration excitation in the driving cab. A spectrum analysis was conducted on the acceleration signal of the driver's cab, and it was found that vibration frequencies at three measuring points, namely the pedal, control lever, and seat, can reach up to 36.7~43.3 Hz. These frequencies can cause resonance in various parts of the driver's body, such as the head and lower limbs, leading to symptoms such as dizziness, throat discomfort, leg pain, defecation anxiety, and frequent urination, and even affect vision of the driver. At the same time, a weighted root-mean-square acceleration evaluation method was used to evaluate the driving comfort of the harvester. The evaluation method showed that the vibration at the foot pedal (Aw1 = 4.4 m/s2>2.5 m/s2) caused extreme discomfort, while the vibration at the seat (0.5 m/s2< Aw2 = 0.67 m/s2<1.0 m/s2) and the control lever (0.5 m/s2< Aw3 = 0.55 m/s2<1.0 m/s2) caused relatively less discomfort. This research can provide some reference for the optimization design of the joint harvester driver's cab.

Design and Test of a Single-Row Harvesting and Cutting Integrated Handheld Garlic Harvester

The current situation in which garlic cultivation is non-homogeneous and modular cannot be adapted to combine harvester operations. In this paper, a single-row harvesting and cutting integrated handheld garlic harvester is designed, and the structure and working principle of the machine are described. By analyzing the mechanics of the machine mechanism, mechanics of the machine harvesting process, and design principle of the machine chassis, the key factors affecting the garlic harvesting machine wounding rate, leakage rate, and net harvesting rate were determined. According to the force and parametric analyses of the test results, it was determined that the machine had the best harvesting effect with a conveying speed of 0.6 m/s, prop speed of 125.6 r/min, digging angle of 15°~25°, forward speed of 0.8 m/s, clamping point height of 62.15 mm, and rollover threshold value of 0.89. Compared with the traditional garlic harvester, the garlic injury rate was 57.1% lower, the garlic leakage rate was 25% lower, and the net harvest rate was 4.0% higher, which meets the requirements of the garlic harvesting operation.

An Economic Analysis of Production of Rainfed and Irrigated Maize in Ariyalur District of Tamil Nadu in India

Maize is the most important cereal and it is mostly used as grain, feed, fodder, and industrial products. In the present study, an attempt was made to calculate the cost of cultivation and to evaluate the of maize conducted in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu. Totally 98 respondents were purposively selected and interviewed from the district to examine the cost and returns of maize among the farmers in the study area. The data was gathered in the form of pre-structured interview schedule. Random sampling technique was adopted for selection of respondents. The study shows cost and returns of rainfed maize and irrigated maize cultivation per hectare and benefit cost ratio in different farm size groups. The total cost of cultivation of rainfed maize was identified as Rs.58338.54 for marginal farmers with benefit cost ratio 1.03, Rs.56301.69 for small farmers with benefit cost ratio 1.08 and Rs.54090.75 for semi-medium farmers with benefit cost ratio 1.15. The total cost of cultivation of irrigated maize was identified as Rs.94442.74 with benefit cost ratio 1.35 for marginal farmers, Rs.92473.29 with benefit cost ratio 1.38 for small farmers and Rs.91857.83 with benefit cost ratio 1.43 for semi-medium farmers. Those cost of cultivation includes all the expenses like, plant protection chemicals, land preparation, harvesting and other intercultural operations. This study clearly shows cost of cultivation decrease with increase in farm size.

Select or Not? Comparing the Impact of Selective and Schematic Thinning on Scots Pine Tree Growth and Stand Structure

The first commercial thinning usually entails a high cost in harvest operations and a low resulting income. From a practical forestry perspective, a schematic spatial selection might be more efficient than a selective approach. Therefore, this study aimed to compare basal area, total and standing volumes, and periodic annual increment (PAI), as well as stand structure, between different thinning designs (selective and schematic thinning) and strategies (thinning once or more than once) over a long-term monitoring period of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) plantations in Sweden. We also evaluated the relevancy of distance-dependent competition indices (CIs) in individual tree growth models by comparing growth model predictions with the use of distance-dependent and distance-independent CIs. Despite higher heterogeneity in schematically thinned stands, there were no significant differences in standing and total volumes (m3·ha−1) among treatments in the short or long term. Although the inclusion of a distance-dependent CI improved the model slightly, distance-independent models predicted diameter growth just as effectively. Schematic thinning could be a viable option for a first commercial thinning or one-time thinning if, at least, one more thinning is included in the management plan, or if the motivating interest is mainly volume.

A Prototype for Automated Delimitation of Work Cycles from Machine Sensor Data in Cable Yarding Operations

The demand for increased efficiency in timber harvesting has traditionally been met by continuous technical improvements in machines and an increase in mechanisation. The use of active and passive sensors on machines enables improvements in aspects such as operational efficiency, fuel consumption and worker safety. Timber harvesting machine manufacturers have used these technologies to improve the maintenance and control of their machines, to select and optimise harvesting techniques and fuel consumption. To a more limited extent, it has also been used to evaluate the time taken to complete tasks. The systematic use of machine sensor data, in a central database or cloud solution is a more recent trend.Machine data is recorded over long periods of time and at high resolution. This data therefore has considerable potential for scientific investigations. For mechanised timber harvesting operations, this could include a better understanding of the interaction between productivity and operational parameters, which first of all requires an efficient determination of cycle time.This study was the first to automatically delimitate tower yarder cycle times from machine sensor data. In addition to machine sensor data, cycle times were collected through a traditional manual time and motion study, and cycle times from both studies were compared to a reference cycle time determined from video footage of the yarder in operation.Based on three days of detailed time study, the total cycle time in the classic manual time (–1.3%) and in the machine sensor data (–1.2%) was only slightly shorter than in the reference study, and the average cycle time did not differ significantly (classic manual time study: –0.08±0.94 min, p=0.997; machine sensor data study: –0.08±0.26 min, p=0.997). However, the accuracy of the machine sensor approach (RMSE=0.92) was more than three times higher than that of the classic manual time study (RMSE=0.27).With the integration of sensors on forestry machines now being commonplace, this study shows that machine sensor data can be reliably interpreted for time study purposes such as machine or system optimisation. This eliminates the need for manual time study, which can be both cumbersome and dependent on the experience of the observer, and allows long term data sets to be obtained and analysed with comparatively little effort. However, a truly automated time study needs to be supplemented with automated determination of and linkage to other operational parameters, such as yarding and lateral yarding distance or load volume.

Design and Experiment of a Low-Loss Harvesting Test Platform for Cabbage

In order to explore the mechanism and influence mechanism of cabbage harvest damage, a low-loss cabbage harvest test platform was designed on the basis of combining the physical characteristics of cabbage with the mechanical characteristics of mechanical harvest and the cabbage harvest operation process. Through the design of key components of the test platform harvesting, the key parameters of the pulling-out device, the reel device, the flexible clamping and conveying device, and the double-disc cutting device were determined. The movement changes of cabbage during pulling out, conveying, and cutting were analyzed to clarify the process of damage generation and critical conditions of damage in cabbage harvesting operations. The test results showed that when the speed of the pulling out device was controlled at 80–120 r/min, the speed of the clamping and conveying device was controlled at 120–240 r/min, and the speed of the double disc cutter was controlled at 140–180 r/min, the average success rate of pulling on the low-loss harvesting test platform was 92.7%; the average damage rate of the pulling process was 7.32%; the average success rate of clamping and conveying was 88.6%; the average damage rate of the clamping and conveying link was 12%; the average success rate of root cutting was 89.3%; and the average damage rate of the cutting link was 11.34%. The average qualified rate of harvesting in the pulling link was 86.7%, the average qualified rate of harvesting in the clamping and conveying link was 75.3%, and the average qualified rate of harvesting in the cutting link was 77.3%. All the performance indicators meet the design requirements and relevant standards, and the research results can provide a reference for the development and structural improvement of low-loss harvesting equipment for cabbage.

Evaluation of Mechanized Field Operations Energies for Production of Sugar Cane Crop: Kenana Sugar Company as Case Study

Mechanization application in agriculture is important for timeliness of field operations and improvement of products quality. This study was conducted in a sugar company to evaluate the mechanization energy requirements for production of sugar cane crop. Mechanization index (MI), mechanization ratio (MR), mechanization productivity (MEP), specific mechanization energy (SME), total mechanization energy and mechanization energy use efficiency (MEU) were estimated. Data for the study was collected from field visits, agricultural engineers working in the company and also from the available information in literatures and other related resources. Results showed that the highest share of mechanized energy consumption belongs to land preparation operation (44%) followed by harvesting operation (30%), while the lowest was for the weeding and fertilization (5%). The highest share of mechanization energy expenses was found to be 72% diesel fuel. The total mechanization energy, overall mechanization index, specific mechanization energy, mechanization energy input ratio, mechanization energy use efficiency and mechanization energy productivity were 17176.3 MJha-1, 97.8%, 0.18 MJkg-1, 0.20, 6.6, 5.6 kgMJ-1. Although the mechanization index of all field operations was more than 90%, but the mechanization energy input ratio was still low, while the mechanization productivity energy was high.

Workability and productivity among CTL machine operators – associations with sleep, fitness, and shift work

ABSTRACT Operational performance of fully mechanized cut-to-length (CTL) harvesting varies greatly due to the human factor i.e. the machine operator. This study investigated how CTL machine operators’ workability index (WAI), personal lifestyle choices, seasons, and shift work affected operational performance. Research evaluated 14 volunteer CTL machine operators for a longitudinal study with continuous data collection of productivity, activity level, sleep, and follow-up on a workability index questionnaire and fitness test every three months over a year. The study analyzed the production of 152 745.5 m3 of timber combined with self-tracking data. Operators’ relative productivity (Pr) had an increasing trend whilst WAI increased, thus WAI seems to work well also for forestry applications. Physical fitness (VO2max) didn’t seem to connect with Pr and WAI had only a slightly increasing trend when VO2max increased. The participants slept longer in the evening shift than in the morning shift (p < 0.000) consequently catching up on their sleep deficit from the morning shift period. Furthermore, operators’ higher sleep value (SV) in the evening shift increased Pr in the final fellings. The results should be of interest to both practitioners and researchers interested in the productivity of harvesting operations.

Evaluation of the features of the methodology for substantiating the operational and design parameters of the harvester conveyor, which works according to the batch method

The article discusses the methods of harvesting grain crops. The emphasis is placed on a separate method involving the use of roller harvesters. A variant of a roller harvester operating by batch technology is considered. The standard methodology of substantiation of optimal parameters and modes of operation of the harvester conveyor is analyzed. As a result, it was found that such a technique is not suitable for establishing the appropriate indicators of the conveyor of the batch header due to its technical and technological features. A particular technique for determining the optimal modes and parameters of the conveyor of a batch harvester is proposed and justified, taking into account its design and technological features and the possibility of minimizing grain losses, and in conclusion the results of its application are presented.

Can Wood Pellets from Canada’s Boreal Forest Reduce Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Energy Generation in the UK?

We present the results of a study on the climate forcing effects of replacing coal for power generation in the United Kingdom (UK) with wood pellets produced in northern Ontario, Canada. Continuous wood pellet production from two biomass sources were considered: fiber from increased harvesting of standing live trees (stemwood scenario) and from harvest residue provided by ongoing harvesting operations (residue scenario). In both scenarios, biomass was collected from harvesting operations in two forest management units (FMUs) with contrasting harvest residue treatments: natural decay of slash piles in the Hearst FMU and slash pile burning in the Kenora FMU. Life cycle emissions associated with wood pellets were assessed for production, transportation, and combustion to replace coal at a hypothetical power generating station in the UK. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in wood pellet and coal scenarios were assessed using two methods: global warming potential (GWP)-based mass balance and dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches. In the stemwood scenario, climate change mitigation from replacing coal with wood pellets was not achieved within the study timeline (2020–2100). In the residue scenario, immediate climate change mitigation was achieved with fiber sourced from the Kenora FMU where the current practice is to burn slash piles; for the Hearst FMU, where slash is allowed to decompose in the forest, climate change mitigation occurred 11.6 and 3.1 years after biomass collection began, as assessed by the mass balance and dynamic LCA methods, respectively. Factors affecting mitigation potential in the studied scenarios are discussed.

Fresh Produce Harvesting Equipment – A Review of Cleaning and Sanitizing Practices and Related Science

During produce harvesting operations, various types of tools, equipment, and containers have direct contact with crops. Best practices for harvesting equipment include routine cleaning and sanitation of food-contact surfaces and areas adjacent to food-contact surfaces. Studies investigating transfer of human pathogens to produce during harvesting operations have revealed numerous crop-contact points with the potential to serve as conduits for pathogen transfer, including harvesting machinery, knives, conveyors, cutting boards, harvest bins and cartons, and cleaning equipment. When these surfaces are contaminated with human pathogens, the pathogens can be transferred to crops during harvesting activities. Minimizing and controlling microbial hazards to prevent contamination of produce during harvesting operations in both indoor and outdoor settings presents challenges that require a transformative level of risk awareness and vigilance from all involved in management and operations. Although new technologies are being explored to improve equipment cleanability, prevention combined with robust cleaning and sanitizing methods remain the most critical maintenance aspects of harvesting equipment that is at low risk for contamination. As part of the produce industry’s continuous efforts to enhance the safety of harvested fresh produce crops, this review summarizes scientific findings that harvesting equipment operators can utilize to evaluate and further inform current cleaning and sanitation practices.