Some observations on mechanical harvesting in tea

摘要

The concept of mechanisation of field operations, especially harvesting, has already gained acceptance in the tea plantations of South India. The use of mechanical harvesters in tea offers high worker productivity and profit compared to hand pluckingor use of manual shears. However, to drive the maximum advantage of these machines, several factors at field, operational and worker level need to be taken care of. After conducting long term trials, the UPASI Tea Research Foundation (TRF) has recommended the use of one man and two men operated motorised harvesters in fields when the bushes are more than 18 months from pruning. While conducting experiments with Kawasaki harvesters the authors have made several critical observations which are presentedhere.