injuries increased postharvest moisture loss and the fruit were particularly prone to infection by fruit-decay fungi ( Ceponis and Cappellini, 1979 ). Excessive ground loss; i.e., fruit are detached during the harvesting processes but are missed by the
to the ground because the catch plates do not fit closely around the multicaned crown of the bush. Estimates of ground losses from mechanical harvesting range from 10% to 50% of the total fruit harvested ( Brown et al., 1996 ; Peterson and Brown
Abstract
Fruits of rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei Read cv. Tifblue) were harvested by hand and an overrow mechanical harvester for 2 years. Machine harvest increased ground loss of marketable fruit over hand harvest. Hand-harvested fruit were 29 to 37% firmer than machine-harvested fruit. When held for 7-11 days at 15.5°C, machine-harvested fruit had more than twice the amount of soft and unmarketable fruit than hand-harvested fruit. Pruning rabbiteye blueberry plants increased the harvesting efficiency of the machine.
harvesting blueberries mechanically. The primary ones were 1) ground loss of otherwise marketable fruit, 2) detachment of immature berries, 3) reduced berry firmness and quality, and 4) increased postharvest decay and reduced storage life. Machine harvest
” that move in and out at the base of the machine to conform to the plant crown. A wide crown results in more fruit being dropped to the ground during the harvest process. During machine harvesting of highbush blueberries, ground losses in the 10% to 25
cited in Dale et al., 1994 ) found that upright bushes with stocky canes performed well in early evaluations of machine harvest potential using handheld equipment. During machine harvesting of highbush blueberries, ground losses in the 10% to 25% range
fruit on ground (ground loss) per plant (≈9 ft 2 ). The detached fruit that landed on the catching surface (e.g., inclined padded surfaces and fish scales) rolled onto the conveyor system, which transported the fruit to the rear of the harvester, where
study because ‘Mini Blues’ has smaller fruit that fall through the catcher plates more easily. Ground losses when using over-the-row machine harvesters have varied considerably in other studies, averaging 12% to 16% for commercial blueberries in Michigan
. Mechanical harvesting is often associated with significant losses such as ground loss (≈20%), mechanical injury to the berries and the plant, removal of immature fruit, and decline in the post-harvest quality of the fruit ( Takeda et al., 2008 ; van Dalfsen
previous studies suggest that intelligent sprayers are less prone to cause airborne drift or ground loss due to reduced volume of product mix ( Chen et al. 2013 ; Chen et al. 2020 ; Fessler et al. 2020 ; Salcedo et al. 2020 ; Silva et al. 2018