Partly Mechanised Harvest Of White Asparagus
M. Geyer, M. Jakob and S. Tischer
Book of Abstract. Information & technology for sustainable fruit & vegetable production, The 7th Fruit, Nut and Vegetable Production Engineering Symposium, 12-16 September 2005, Monpellier, France. Page 57
2005
บทคัดย่อ
White asparagus grows in ridges and usually is harvested by hand. The main problem is the great need of seasonal workers per ha, resulting from the large expenditure of time spent for cutting by hand, lifting and replacing the plastic film, and transport of asparagus away from the field. In the last years, different cutting methods and mechanization steps were analysed by using time interval measurements. The task is to harvest fast, with little effort and without damaging any other spears remaining in the ridge.
The increasing labor costs and the lack of labor supply have forced the asparagus farmers to optimize harvesting process and to introduce harvesting aids. Several types of machines, lifting and replacing the plastic film for up to 5 rows, are available. The advantages of partly mechanized harvesting can he seen in the reduction of time. Between 2 and 4 hours per ha and harvesting process can be saved. The use of harvesting aids is advisable for high yield, long ridges over 400 m, "blind" cutting and not too heavy soil.