Harvesting Semidwarf Freestanding Apple Trees with an Over-the-row Mechanical Harvester

Abstract

<jats:p>Three years of mechanical harvesting (shake and catch) trials with two freestanding apple (<jats:italic>Malus domestica</jats:italic> Borkh.) cultivars on a semidwarf rootstock (M.7a) and two training systems (central leader and open center) yielded 64% to 77% overall harvesting efficiency. Mechanically harvested `Bisbee Delicious' apples averaged 70% Extra Fancy and 10% Fancy grade, while two `Golden Delicious' strains (`Smoothee' and `Frazier Goldspur') averaged 40% Extra Fancy and 13% Fancy grade fruit. Mechanically harvesting fresh-market-quality apples from semidwarf freestanding trees was difficult and its potential limited. Cumulative yield of open-center trees was less than that of central-leader trees during the 3 years (sixth through eighth leaf) of our study. `Golden Delicious' trees generally produced higher yields than `Delicious' trees.</jats:p>

Harvest Mechanization Progress and Prospects for Fresh Market Quality Deciduous Tree Fruits

“…Attempts to mechanically harvest apples by mass removal techniques (shake/catch) from freestanding trees have not been successful (Brown et al, 1983;Peterson et al, 1994) due to excessive fruit damage. This damage occurs from 1) excessive apple movement during detachment, causing apple-to-apple, and apple-to-branch contact; 2) apple-to-branch contact when falling; and 3) apple-to-apple contact on the catching surfaces, since most of the apples fall in a short time All programs and services of the USDA are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis with regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, or handicap.…”

Robotic Manipulation for Specialty Crop Harvesting: A Review of Manipulator and End-Effector Technologies

“…To reduce harvesting costs and the dependence on seasonal labor, researchers have tried two different approaches for specialty crop mechanical harvesting, bulk harvesting with shake-and-catch systems, and selective harvesting with robotics. Shake-and-catch systems (Erdogan, Guner, Dursun & Gezer, 2003;Peterson, Miller & Whitney, 1994;Polat et al, 2007) have proven more promising for the mass harvesting of process market fruit with established tolerances for bruising and external defects. There have also been several attempts to develop mass harvesting systems for fresh market citrus, cherries, and apples (Torregrosa, Orti, Martin, Gil & Ortiz, 2009).…”