Abstract
Harvest costs are significant for tree fruit producers and, yet, not well studied. In this paper a prototype system for measuring harvest worker efficiency in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is presented. This weighing system consists of a digital weighing platform compatible with standard commercial fruit bins and a data logger interfaced to a wireless radio. Weight data were transmitted every 5 s, filtered and stored to a laptop computer (database). System functionality and reliability were evaluated in five orchards in cooperation with three commercial growers. Preliminary tests showed that the system did not interfere with normal harvest activities and that the efficiency of pickers and picking teams varied within and across orchard blocks, (e.g. 0.75 to 2.87 kg/min), depending on their experience and skills (e.g. 1.37 kg/min for skilled workers vs. 0.64 kg/min for unskilled). Further, the mean picking rate of ‘Skeena’ without pedicels (stem-free) was 1.15 kg/min, almost 50 % greater than fruit with stems (mean = 0.75 kg/min) when picked by the same crew and orchard.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported in part by Washington State University Agricultural Research Center federal formula funds, Project No. WNP0745, No. WNP0728 and No. WNP0420 received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institutes for Food and Agriculture, USDA-Specialty Crop Research Initiative project 2009-02559, Washington State University Center for Precision & Automated Agricultural Systems. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Ampatzidis, Y.G., Whiting, M.D., Liu, B. et al. Portable weighing system for monitoring picker efficiency during manual harvest of sweet cherry. Precision Agric 14, 162–171 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-012-9284-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-012-9284-3