Mechanical harvesting and hedging of California black ripe (Olea europaea) cv. 'Manzanillo' table olives.

摘要

A prototype mechanical olive harvester, consisting of a 2-m-high, 1-m-diameter cylinder with 370 stacked radiating 1-m fibreglass rods and a horizontal whipping motion created by a top counterweight rotating at 500 rpm was evaluated in 1996 and 1997on hedged trees of olive cv. Manzanillo in the central San Joaquin Valley of California (USA). The percentages of olives removed from previously tagged branches was used to evaluate harvester efficiency. Fruit removal efficiency was significantly betterfrom the most accessible tagged branches (those one quarter and three quarters of the way from the leading edge of the tree canopy; 91% removal) than from branches on the leading edge (56%) and the trailing edge (65%) of the canopy. Cull rates due to damage were 1.0-3.1% higher for mechanically-harvested fruits than for hand-harvested olives. Hedging in May 1996 did not significantly reduce the yield or crop value in the year of pruning or the subsequent year. Topping significantly decreased both yieldand value during the year of pruning, but not in the subsequent year. It is suggested that the efficiency of the harvester can be improved by hedging the trees to a triangular shape no lower than 1 m from the ground.