Potato Harvest Research Articles

Statistical evaluation of reliability indicators of potato harvesting process

According to agrotechnical requirements, the technological process of potato harvesting should be carried out in a short period, with minimal losses of the grown yield and preservation of its quality. The fulfillment of these requirements depends on the organization of harvesting operations, the qualifications of employees, the technologies involved, the technical aids used, as well as natural and climatic conditions. Based on this, the authors propose to consider the potato harvesting process as the functioning system "man-machine-environment-transport", the main evaluation indicator of which is its reliability, determined by the probability of reliable operation of the system. Basing on the method of time-lapse observations, the analysis of the time characteristics of the operational and inoperable states of the system arising from the reasons of the "failure" elements included to it is carried out. Experimental studies were conducted during three harvesting seasons in the training farm of the Irkutsk State Agrarian University using a potato harvesting unit PPC-2-01+МТZ-80 by direct combining. Statistical processing of the empirical data obtained enabled to reveal a number of regularities in the reliability indicators of the potato harvesting process and quantify the unproductive time waste during the working day when performing managerial, technical and technological functions.

基于穿山甲鳞片表面纹理特征的马铃薯挖掘铲设计及减阻性能分析

Taking into account the physicochemical properties of soil and the complexity of adhesion interface, how to improve the soil adhesion on the mechanical surface is a crucial technical issue. In order to lower the increasing resistance caused by soil adhesion on the surface of a digging shovel in potato harvesting, a potato digging shovel with a non-smooth surface structure was designed based on bionics theory. Based on testing physical and mechanical properties of soil, a soil groove model corresponding to soil physical properties and particle model physical properties was established through a combination of simulation and physical tests, and a simulation test for evaluating the drag reduction performance was conducted. The simulation comparison test results show that the performance of the bionic digging shovel is better than that of the traditional potato digging shovel, regardless of whether the broken soil rate or the working resistance is reduced, and the soil adhered to the mechanical surface can be effectively reduced by 93.3%. The research results can provide ideas and methods for solving the adhesion problem between machinery and soil.

Characteristics of safety and harmlessness conditions labor of operators at the sorting facilities of table root crops and potatoes

The article notes the influence of production factors on operators when sorting table root crops. The most harmful production factors acting on a person have been identified, as this is the most important barometer of the state of working capacity and prevention of production-related and occupational diseases. It is established that the content of soil dust depends on many factors (weather conditions during harvesting, soil type, the amount of incoming pile of root crops for sorting). Information is given on the granulometric composition of the soil coming together with root crops from harvesting machines to the refinement line. It is noted that from the point of view of labor protection the dustiness of the air in the zone of refinement of root crops, exceeding the regulatory requirements by 2 or more times, is of particular concern. Attention is drawn to the fact that the emissions of the ventilation system into the environment from the vegetable store, where fruit and vegetable products are unloaded from the harvested field areas, pollute the external (as well as internal) air space not only with dust, but also with harmful substances damaged during harvesting of perishable products and imported with it residues of vegetation and a large amount of land stuck to the products in connection with the harvesting of potatoes and table root crops during a period of high humidity; this is typical for the Northwestern zone during the harvesting period (September-October). The soil stuck in the gaps of the treads of the wheels of tractors, cars and trailers gets into the vegetable storage room during the unloading of field products. In connection with the treatment of crops with agrochemicals during the period of plant development, the remains of agrochemicals, which adversely affect the working conditions of operators at the objects of sorting table root crops and potatoes, also enter the premises with the soil. product sorting. The patent solution has been introduced into production at the workplace of operators, providing a reduction in dust content by 1.5-2.0 times below the maximum allowable concentrations.

One-step multiplex DiRT-PCR for PLRV, PVY, PVM, PVS, PVA and PVX ready for routine testing directly on tuber sap

Potato viruses PLRV, PVY, PVM, PVA, PVX and PVS can cause up to 90% loss of potato harvest. Therefore, they are monitored by law in many countries using DAS-ELISA or conventional real-time RT-qPCR. Previously, we developed a multiplex real-time DiRT-PCR (Direct reverse transcript – polymerase chain reaction), which works directly on diluted tuber sap and thus saves time and chemical processing for RNA extraction or time and space in the glasshouse. So far, this method only ran on sap of single tubers which is not practical for routine testing. We are now able to sensitively test for the presence of six viruses in two multiplex reactions using the real-time DiRT-PCR on pooled samples of ten tubers. Here we show that there is an “almost perfect” agreement (Gwet’s AC1 index) comparing this multiplex real-time DiRT-PCR on pooled samples with DAS-ELISA and a commercial RT-qPCR kit with a rapid extraction method. The multiplex real-time DiRT-PCR is now ready to be used for routine testing.

Autumn Film Mulched Ridge Microfurrow Planting Improves Yield and Nutrient-Use Efficiency of Potatoes in Dryland Farming

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are the most important noncereal crop in the world. Increasing potato production is critical for future global food security. China is the world’s largest potato producer, and potato productivity is constrained by water scarcity and poor fertilizer use efficiency (NUEF). Recently, autumn film mulched ridge microfurrow rainwater harvesting (ARF) tillage has been successfully applied in potato production in dryland farming in Northwest China. However, the effects of ARF on the use efficiency (NUEF) of applied nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) nutrients in potatoes have not been systematically studied. A 3-year, consecutive field trial with four treatments, including moldboard planting without fertilizer application (control, CK), spring and autumn film mulched ridge microfurrow rainwater harvesting planting (SRF and ARF), and standard film mulched ridge-furrow planting (FRF), was conducted during 2018–2020. ARF greatly increased the water levels in the 0–200 cm soil profile at potato harvest compared to SRF, FRF, and CK. ARF and SRF significantly increased the levels of soil organic carbon (SOC), total and available NPK (TN, TP, TK and AN, AP, AK) compared to FRF and CK, with ARF being the most efficient at increasing the levels of the AN, AP, and AK. ARF significantly improved the soil water and nutrient activity and contributed the most to potato tuber and biomass yield and hence the NUEF. Under ARF, significant and positive associations were observed between the soil fertility traits, soil water storage (SWS), potato tuber yield, biomass yield, and NUEF. Soil fertility traits and the SWS were positively correlated with potato tuber and biomass yield. The SWS, potato tuber, and biomass yield positively correlated with the partial factor productivity (PFP) and the recovery efficiency (RE) of the applied NPK nutrients. Increased nutrient levels and their combination increased the NUEF and NUEF’s components. The TN and AN contributed more significantly to the PEP and agronomic efficiency (AE) of the applied NPK nutrients; the TP was significantly positively correlated with the AE (AEN, AEP, and AEK), while the AP was correlated with PEP (PFPN, PFPP, and PFPK) and RE (REN, REP, and REK); the TK was significantly positively correlated with the PFP and RE of the applied PK nutrients, while the AK was significantly positively correlated with the PEP, AE, and RE of the applied K nutrients. Therefore, ARF results in a synchronous increase in yield and NUEF and is the most efficient planting system for potato production in dryland farming.

Machinery for potato harvesting: a state-of-the-art review.

Potatoes are the fourth most important crop for human consumption. In the 18 century, potatoes saved the European population from starvation, and since then, it has become one of the primary crops cultivated in countries such as Spain, France, Germany, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Potato production worldwide reached 368.8 million tonnes in 2019, 371.1 million tonnes in 2020, and 376.1 million tonnes in 2021, with production expected to grow alongside the worldwide population. However, the agricultural sector is currently suffering from urbanization. With the next generation of farmers relocating to cities, there is a diminishing and ageing agricultural workforce. Consequently, farms urgently need innovation, particularly from a technology perspective. As a result, this work is focused on reviewing the worldwide developments in potato harvesting, with an emphasis on mechatronics, the use of intelligent systems and the opportunities that arise from applications utilising the Internet of Things (IoT). Our work covers worldwide scientific publications in the last five years, sustained by public data made available from different governments. We end our review by providing a discussion on the future trends derived from our analysis.

PREVALENCE OF CAUSATIVE AGENTS OF RING ROT CLAVIBACTER SEPEDONICUS, BLACKLEG AND WET ROT PECTOBACTERIUM ATROCEPTICUM IN THE 2021 YEAR POTATO HARVEST IN THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE

Aim. To investigate the prevalence of causative agents of ring rot and soft rot in the potato harvest by the DAS ELISA method. Materials and methods. Samples of the potato harvest from Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kherson regions were used in the study. The detection of bacterial agents was conducted by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using commercial test systems LOEWE® Standard Complete Kit (Germany). Results. The highest percentage of affected potatoes was registered in the Donetsk region: 11.1% – by the Clavibacter seedonicus, 31.0% – by the Pectobacterium atrosepticum, and 8.9% – by both bacteria. The causative agent of soft rot was detected twice as often as a causative agent of ring rot in tuber samples from all regions, except the Ternopil region, where the predominance of Clavibacter sepedonicus was revealed. In addition to the Donetsk region, a high prevalence of the causative agent of soft rot was found in the potato harvest from Kyiv (10.2%) and Odesa (10.0%) regions, the highest abundance of the causative agent of ring rot was detected in the Ternopil region. The mixed bacterial infection of potato tubers was diagnosed in 6 areas, and the highest rate was detected in the Donetsk region. Conclusion. The analysis of the distribution of ring rot pathogen Clavibacter sepedonicus and soft rot pathogen Pectobacterium atrocepticum in the potato crop shows the presence of research pathogens in all studied regions. It was discovered the dominance of the representative of pectolytic bacteria in all regions except Ternopil, where the distribution of Clavibacter sepedonicus, the causative agent of ring rot, was dominated. High rates of spread of the studied pathogens were associated with increased local average annual precipitation, as well as with increased annual amplitude of this indicator.

小型马铃薯收获机挖掘装置的设计与仿真试验

Aiming at the potato cropping pattern in the hilly area of southwest China, a small digging device for potato harvester was designed. First, the overall structure of the harvester was determined according to the soil physical characteristic and cropping pattern of the test site. Then, the digging shovel, the key components of harvester were designed and was analyzed the relationship between the inclination of the digging shovel and the power loss under the conditions of different digging speed, digging depth and soil bulk density by MATLAB software, and the mathematical models were established. Finally, the three-dimensional model of the whole machine was established by SolidWorks, and the simulation experiment was carried out with the model of soil particles, potato particles and potato ridges created by the discrete element (DEM) software. The simulation results show that when the working speed of the harvester is 1 m/s, the digging depth is 170 mm, and the potato expose rate is 87.3%. Under normal working conditions of the digging device, appropriately reducing the digging depth can reduce the resistance and wear of the digging shovels.

变间距式马铃薯输送分级装置设计与试验

This paper proposed a technical idea of joint operation of conveying and grading and developed a potato conveying and grading device with variable space to realize efficient grading in the field because of the difficulties of field grading in the process of potato harvesting in the hilly mountains of northwest China. Based on field measurement of potato size distribution, the clearance between rotating plates of potato conveying and grading device was determined. The key structural parameters of the rotating plate were obtained by referring to the structure and relevant parameters of the conveying and grading device. Moreover, the conveyor chain elevation angle of the conveying and grading device was determined through the dynamics analysis of potatoes on the conveying and grading device. The inclined plane test determined the inclination angle of the potato guide plate. To reduce the damage to potatoes in the process of conveying and grading, damage analysis was carried out. Finally, Field tests were conducted with conveyor chain elevation angle, unit forward speed, and the conveyor chain line speed as test factors, and the grading accuracy and the damage rate of the potato conveying and grading device as test indexes. The test results showed that when the conveyor chain elevation angle, unit forward speed, and conveyor chain line speed were 21.0°, 0.8 m/s, and 1.3 m/s, respectively, the grading accuracy was 91.4% and the rate of potato damage was 0.88%. The operational performance of the prototype was stable, and all the test evaluation indicators could meet the agronomic requirements of the potato harvester.

Design of a Spring-Finger Potato Picker and an Experimental Study of Its Picking Performance

To address the problems of low pickup rates and high rates of wounds in the mechanised harvesting of potatoes under sectional harvesting conditions, a spring-finger potato picker was designed and its overall structure and working principles were described. The kinematic principle of the spring-finger was analysed based on the picking constraints, and the kinematic parameters of the picker were determined. A response surface Box–Behnken Design test design was used to carry out a quadratic orthogonal rotational test, with the speed of the spring-finger, the forward speed of the machine, and the embedded depth as test factors, and the loss rate and the wounded potato rate as evaluation indicators. The test results were optimised and analysed. When the spring-finger speed was 19.57 r/min, the forward speed was 0.61 m/s and the embedded depth was 71.31 mm, the loss rate was 1.18%, and the wounded potato rate was 5.71%. The optimised data were verified, and the results showed that the loss rate of the spring-finger potato picker was 1.48% and the wounded potato rate was 4.98%, meeting the potato picking and harvesting requirements. The research can provide a theoretical basis and design reference for the development and application of sectional potato harvesting machinery.

Soil C, N and P bioavailability and cycling following amendment with shrub willow chips

Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) crops are often cultivated in coarse-textured soils with low soil organic matter and high nitrate leaching risk. Incorporating shrub willow chips into soil could enhance soil properties, while temporally immobilizing N and thus reducing N leaching. We performed a laboratory incubation study and a field experiment to evaluate the effects of shrub willow chips applied at increasing rates in the fall after the potato harvest on C, N and P cycling, soil pH and moisture, and on barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) yield in the following year. In comparison with the control, willow chip incorporation at the rates of 40 and 60 Mg ha−1 increased total C content, but it did not affect the activity of C cycling enzymes. Willow chip addition at these rates also induced nitrate immobilization and reduced barley grain yield and total N uptake, but increased the activity of N cycling enzymes (β-1,4- N-acetylglucosaminidase and leucine aminopeptidase). Mehlich-3 extractable P content and phosphomonoesterase activity were not affected by willow chip addition. Our results suggest that shrub willow chips increased total organic C and immobilized N following their incorporation and can thus mitigate nitrate leaching after the potato harvest. The N immobilization was short lived and was not observed over second winter. We recommend to seed a forage legume in the spring following shrub willow chip incorporation. Willow chip incorporation is an effective means of increasing soil organic carbon.

Construction and analysis of the forced vibration model of separating screen under a dropped potato

AbstractTo determine the damage characteristics of potato falling on the separating screen and their relationship with the vibration characteristics, it is expected to provide a reference for the structural optimization of potato harvesting related machinery. The vibration characteristics of the separating screen were theoretically analyzed and a forced vibration model of separating screen was developed. The effects of vibration model parameters on the damage volume of potatoes were studied by single‐factor experiments with fall height, potato mass, fall direction, and potato varieties as experimental factors. Especially, the changes of decay coefficient α and the potato damage volume with test factors were obtained: the attenuation coefficient α increased with increasing falling height and potato mass and showed a significant correlation with potato damage volume. The decay coefficient α becomes largest when the potato falls along the length direction and smallest when it falls along the thickness direction. The α decreased with increasing hardness of potato varieties and showed a significant negative correlation with potato damage volume. Fitting equations between the attenuation coefficient α and the damage volume for each effects were established to predict the potato damage under different height, mass, and variety, as follows: V1 = 498035α − 2516, V2 = 209646α − 286, and V3 = −84397α + 1149.Practical ApplicationsDuring the mechanized harvest process, severe potato damage occurred on the swing separation screen. This will seriously affect the quality and economic value of potatoes. At present, there are few studies on the vibration damage theory and experiment during potato harvest. Therefore, in order to clarify the vibration characteristics of the separation screen and its relationship with the potato damage characteristics, we studied the influence of the vibration characteristics on the potato damage through the drop test, and established the vibration model of the separation screen. The relationship between the model parameters and the potato damage volume was further explored, and a mathematical model was developed to predict the volume of potato damage. This study provides a reference for the study of the coupled vibration of the potato soil mixture and the optimization of the potato soil separation device.

Statistical analysis and modeling of factors of resource potential of agricultural development in the region

In modern realities, the issue of effective use of the existing resource potential of the regions is acute, the solution of which directly affects the effectiveness of the functioning of industrial complexes of both individual territories and the country as a whole. Agriculture consists of a system of interconnected industries that produce various types of agricultural products, ensuring the food security of the state and the quality of life of the population. The purpose of the work was to analyze the resource potential of regional agriculture and identify a set of relevant factors (based on processing the flow of statistical data) on the example of the Orenburg region. The economic and statistical apparatus using the Statistica software package was used as a tool for carrying out correlation and regression analysis and building models. The article analyzes various interpretations of the concept of "potential". The components of the resource potential are considered and the factors characterizing them are ordered. A comparison of a number of indicators of agricultural production (the volume of agricultural production in millions of rubles, the size of the acreage of crops, the volume of gross harvest of grain and potatoes, the number of cattle and pigs) by regions of the Volga Federal District is given. The leading subjects of the district have been identified, among them the Orenburg Region, on the materials of which methods of correlation and regression analysis have been implemented and a set of models has been built. As an example, an econometric model of the impact on the volume of agricultural products of a number of factors (characterizing the resource potential of the region) is given, including the area of agricultural land, the average annual number of agricultural workers, the introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers per hectare of crops, the cost of fixed assets by type of economic activity, the volume of investments in fixed capital of agriculture farms. The analysis of the variables included in the model is carried out. Taking into account the identified factors, a set of measures aimed at improving the efficiency of agricultural production in the region is formulated.

Development and Testing of a Self-Propelled Machine for Combined Potato Harvesting and Residual Plastic Film Retrieval

A self-propelled machine for combined potato harvesting and residual plastic film retrieval is presented in this paper. The machine was designed collaboratively and built at the College of Mechano-Electronic Engineering of Gansu Agricultural University. It is intended for slow slope and horizontal terraces in hilly and mountainous areas of Northwest China, where regular-size harvesters cannot operate. The machine can realize the combined operations of potato digging, potato separation from soil and plastic film, potato collection and bagging, and residual plastic film retrieval. Through engineering analyses, the main systems of the machine were calculated, and their operating parameters were estimated. These include the digging and lifting device, the potato–plastic-film separation device, and the residual plastic film retrieval device. Field tests were performed at a 0.5 m/s driving speed of the machine, while the linear speed of the lifting chain of the digging and lifting device was 1.5 m/s, the tilting angle of the conveying chain of the potato and plastic film separation device was 50°, its linear speed was 0.6 m/s, and the linear speed of the lifting screen of the circulating lifting device was 0.7 m/s. With these settings, the average productivity of the machine was 0.12 ha/h. The loss rate, damage rate, and potato bruising rate were 1.8%, 1.4%, and 2.8%, respectively; the potato impurity rate was 3.6%; and the residual plastic film retrieval rate was 83%—all above industry standards. This research provides a solution to the problem of mechanized potato harvesting and plastic mulch retrieval on small, slopped plots of land in Northwest China and in other parts of the world where similar conditions exist.

Design and Field Test of a Remotely Controlled Self-propelled Potato Harvester with Manual Sorting Platform

Design and Field Test of a Remotely Controlled Self-propelled Potato Harvester with Manual Sorting Platform

Camps archipelago: an ethnography of migrant agricultural laborers in the potato harvesting in rural Sicily

The presence of migrant workers in the agricultural system of Southern Italy is cur-rently an essential element of this economic area. This increasing presence is deep-ly linked with the transformations occurred to agricultural markets and hence on the mode of production and distribution, not only in Italy or in Europe but at a global level. Moving from this context, the article focuses on the articulation of spaces and time of production and reproduction of the seasonal agricultural work proposing an analytical distinction according to camps, their functions, characteris-tics and interconnections. The research methodology highlights the threads and circulations of migrant subjectivities, in their different activities – labor, leisure, so-cial relations – along these camps through a multi-sited ethnography which con-siders as a case study the seasonal potato harvest in the Siracusa area. These camps can be subdivided into four different types, based on the functions they fulfill: the "scattered camp", the "sanctuary", the "plantation", the "institutional camp". The porosity among these different camp typologies represents a crucial element. We define archipelago of camps the flourishing of formal and informal encampments and sanctuaries, densely intertwined and reciprocally influencing one another, emerging from the contentious or fruitful encounters of the actors in the field.

МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВНІ НАПРЯМИ КОНСТРУКТИВНО-ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНИХ СХЕМ ГРУДКОРУЙНУЮЧИХ РОБОЧИХ ОРГАНІВ КОРЕНЕБУЛЬБОЗБИРАЛЬНИХ МАШИН

Для успішного виходу України на західні ринки необхідно забезпечити конкурентоспроможність власної продукції, яка досягається завдяки комплексній механізації технологічних процесів, зниженню витрат праці, збільшенню врожайності та якості одержуваної продукції. Відповідно, метою дослідження було проведення порівняльного аналізу технологій і машин для збирання картоплі, розроблення моделі вдосконалення грудкоруйнуючих робочих органів й окреслення перспективних напрямів удосконалення коренебульбозбиральних машин. Дослідження проводилися шляхом технологічно-конструкційного аналізу технологій і машин для збирання картоплі. У процесі досліджень використовувались методи порівняння та математичного моделювання конструктивно-технологічних схем грудкоруйнуючих робочих органів. Інформаційною базою досліджень слугували праці українських і зарубіжних науковців із технологій і машин для збирання картоплі. На основі проведеного порівняльного аналізу технологій і машин для збирання картоплі виявлено основні конструктивно-технологічні схеми, що впливають на агротехнічні показники збиральної техніки, розроблено модель грудкоруйнуючих робочих органів (збиральних машин). Дана модель включає руйнування ґрунтових грудок: по-перше, катками безпосередньо перед підкопом бульбоносного пласта; по-друге, грудкоподрібнюючими пристроями (балонами, бітерами або інтенсификаторами сепарації) різних конструкцій у процесі виконання технологічних операцій картоплезбиральної машиною. Попереднє руйнування бульбоносного пласта проводиться безпосередньо перед його підкопуванням і в момент підкопування опорними катками різних типів та інших конструктивних і кінематичних параметрів робочих органів машин.

Evaluation of Comparative Field Studies for Root and Onion Harvester with Variable Angle Conveyor

The long-term storage of vegetable crops and potatoes in storage, even with a small content of soil and plant impurities in the heap, does not ensure the preservation of the required quality indicators of marketable products. The lack of modern technological foundations for improving the design parameters of machines for harvesting vegetables and potatoes leads to the impossibility of eliminating the loss of root crops, their damage, as well as the high-quality process of cleaning from impurities. This circumstance is due to the fact that modern technologies and technical means of harvesting root crops and onions are not able to provide high-quality marketable products with minimal labor costs. In this regard, a modern separating system of the harvesting machine has been developed, which ensures the variation of technological parameters under changing conditions for the harvesting of root crops and onions. The experimental studies of the developed harvester with an experimental separating system made it possible to ensure the high-quality harvesting of potato and onion tubers with the following parameter values: a completeness of separation of more than 98% and a damage to products up to 1.7%, at a speed of movement of 1.7 m/s for the separating system; a completeness of separation of more than 98% and a product damage of up to 1.1% at a speed of up to 1.0 m/s for the harvester; and a separation completeness of more than 98% and a product damage of up to 1.4% at a commercial product extraction depth of 0.02 m. The results of comparative studies on the quality indicators of the machine for harvesting root crops in the harvesting of potato and onion tubers are presented, indicating the prevailing values of the quality indicators of work in the harvesting of potatoes, depending on the change in the regime indicators of the quality of work.

Model of artificial neural network in increasing the efficiency of harvesting potatoes by quality embedding of the planting material

The technological process of the harvester operation, regardless of the harvesting technology, is achieved, among other things, by the high-quality preparation of the field for harvesting vegetables and potatoes. It has been established that the exclusion of the content of soil and plant impurities in the harvested products contributes to an increase in its storage, which cannot be ensured if there are free tops and weeds in the heap up to 2 ... 4%. At the same time, in order to exclude the ingress of soil impurities to the cleaning devices of the harvesting machine, it is necessary to ensure the high-quality work of the digging working body of root and tuber crops with underground fruiting. In addition, due to the fact that the performance of the root-extracting and separating devices of the harvesting machine is affected by the work of the furrow-closing working bodies of the planting machine, since the imperfect process of planting tubers in the furrow with soil leads to uneven maturation of tubers, as well as an increased rise of the soil layer during cleaning. The results of studies on the development of a functional diagram of a machine for planting potato tubers in the form of an artificial neural network, dependencies for determining the predictive indicators of the quality of the machine for planting potatoes, optimal technological parameters of a disk incorporating body for determining the amount of soil required for high-quality incorporation of potato tubers are presented.

Collision simulation of potato tubers for mechanized harvesting

AbstractThe economic losses caused by collision damages during mechanical potato harvesting are significant. In this study, the simulation analysis method was used to investigate the factors affecting these mechanical damages. Taking the typical early maturing potato variety Zaodabai as an example, our test results indicated that its elastic modulus is 3.148 MPa, Poisson's ratio is 0.45, and biological yield stress is 1.183 MPa. An accurate three‐dimensional potato model was created using reverse engineering technology. On this basis, the effects of drop height, collision mode, and collision material on the mechanical potato damage were investigated using finite element analysis. The results indicated that the potato damage characteristics become more evident as the drop height increased. Analyzing the collision mode of mechanized potato harvesting revealed that the potato damage degree is the lowest in the double‐rod long axis collision mode. The collision damage degree between a potato and four common collision materials was determined from highest to lowest as follows: 65 Mn rod, 65 Mn rubber‐coated rod, potato, and soil. This research provides a data basis and reference for the design and development of potato harvester equipment, particularly for low‐damage potato harvesters.Practical applicationsAs the fourth largest food crop in the world, potatoes have high economic value and are of great importance for food security. Collision damage in mechanized harvesting seriously reduces the quality and value of potatoes and causes large economic losses. Therefore, we aim to clarify the key factors affecting collision damage in mechanized harvesting. The influence of motion mode, collision height, collision method, and collision material on potato damage characteristics was investigated through simulation experiments. This study provides a data basis and reference methods for developing key components of high‐performance and low‐damage potato harvesters and serves as a reference for researching damage characteristics of other tuber, root, and bulb crops.