Considerations on Hemp Stalk Harvesting Using Specialized Equipment

Abstract

Within the current hemp cultivation technologies, the use of high-performance technical equipment is required for all applied works, and following the concerns regarding diversified and efficient ways of harvesting, INMA Bucharest has created and experimented an innovative technical equipment for harvesting and tying the stalks into sheaves. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of this equipment, the paper presents the experimental results obtained by INMA Bucharest regarding hourly fuel consumption and fuel consumption per hectare. These energetic indices are important in the evaluation of expenses per surface unit, constituting the basis of the economic efficiency evaluation. At the same time, at ARDS Secuieni, in 2021, research was carried out on the influence of the cuttings application and different sowing norms on the agro-productive capacity of the Ratza monoecious hemp variety for stalks and fibre. The obtained results constitute premises in order to optimize some technological links of cultivation at hemp for stalks and fibre, but they also confirmed the fact that fuel consumption per hectare recorded at hemp stalks harvesting was influenced both by the technical characteristics of the equipment used and by the characteristics of the experimented crop.