Development of Circulating-Type Movable Bench System for Strawberry Cultivation

Abstract

One of the direct approaches for obtaining a high yield of strawberries is high-density cultivation. Such cultivation improves the efficiency of space utilization in a greenhouse; however, it requires the movement of planting benches. The aim of this study is to develop a circulating-type movable bench system for strawberry cultivation that realizes high-density cultivation and improves work efficiency. The developed system, which is 16.0 m long and 9.2 m wide, consists mainly of two longitudinal conveying units, two lateral conveying units, two nutrient supply units, a chemical sprayer, 62 planting benches, and a control unit. The design of the longitudinal conveying mechanism combining the rotating and sliding movements of rods for pulling the benches and a method of controlling the conveying units achieves effective circulation, resulting in a cycle time of 67.0 s during which the successive bench reaches the initial position. This cycle time could be shortened by increasing the speed of lateral conveying. The planting density obtained using this approach is 16.0 to 20.0 plants m -2 , which is roughly 2 to 2.5 times the plant density obtained in the conventional method of cultivation. Furthermore, the four cultivars used in this study showed vigorous growth, and the cultivars Akihime and Moikko showed a marketable yield twice as high as the conventional yield.

Harvesting Robots for High‐value Crops: State‐of‐the‐art Review and Challenges Ahead

“…Crops grown indoors can be suitable for stationary robots if the crops grow on movable benches that can be transported to the robot. Such benches are sometimes applied in greenhouses as well (Hayashi et al., ). Movable benches cannot be used in the open field because there is little economic incentive, and they cannot be used in orchards because trees are too heavy to transport.…”

Automation technologies for strawberry harvesting and packing operations in Japan1

“…A new movable bench system, measuring 4.3 m long and 9.4 m wide, was developed based on the previous prototype [24]. It chiefly comprises two longitudinal conveying units, two lateral conveying units, two nutrient supply units, a chemical sprayer, 16 planting benches, and a control unit, as shown in Fig.…”

Twofold Increase in Strawberry Productivity by Integration of Environmental Control and Movable Beds in a Large-scale Greenhouse

“…The former is influenced by cultivation systems, and the average planting density of the conventional bench culture system with stationary beds is about 8 plants m 2 (8,000 plants / 10 a) in Japan. To achieve high planting density, many types of the movable bed systems, e.g., the lateral movable type (Nagasaki et al, 2013), the circulative movable type (Hayashi et al, 2011) and the vertically movable type (Hidaka et al, 2012), have been developed. These lateral, circulative and vertically movable bed systems enable efficient use of the greenhouse space, and result in 1.5, 2.5 and 4 times planting densities as compared with the conventional bench culture system, respectively.…”