Evaluation of different mechanical fruit harvesting systems and oil quality in very large size olive trees

  • Franco Famiani Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dip. Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali. Borgo XX Giugno, 74. 06121 Perugia
  • Daniela Farinelli Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dip. Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali. Borgo XX Giugno, 74. 06121 Perugia
  • Sara Rollo Università degli Studi di Perugia, Dip. Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali. Borgo XX Giugno, 74. 06121 Perugia
  • Salvatore Camposeo Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Dip. Scienze Agro-Ambientali e Territoriali. Via Amendola, 165/A. 70126 Bari
  • Claudio Di Vaio Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Dip. Agraria. Via Università, 100, 80055 Portici (NA)
  • Paolo Inglese Università degli Studi di Palermo, Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie e Forestali. Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo
Keywords: Olea europaea L., mechanical beater, pneumatic combs, branch shaker, harvesting cost

Abstract

In 2006 and 2009, trials were carried out in the Apulia region in Southern Italy to evalu-ate the possibility of mechanizing olive harvesting in groves of old and very large trees. The trees belonged to the cultivars ‘Cellina di Nardò’ and ‘Ogliarola Salentina’. They were 60-100 years old and 7-9 m tall with a canopy volume of 140-360 m3. In the first half of November 2006, with a mechanical beater mounted on a tractor plus hand-held pneumatic combs, the harvesting yield was close to 90% of the total olives present in the canopy, and the harvesting working productivity was around 60 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1. With a self-propelled shaker attached to the main branches the harvesting yield was about 73% in ‘Cellina di Nardò’, and 40% in ‘Ogliarola Salentina’, while the harvesting working productivities were around 103 and 85 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1, respectively. In the second half of No-vember 2009, in ‘Cellina di Nardò’, with a mechanical beater mounted on a tractor plus nets on the ground or a catching frame (reversed umbrella) mounted on another tractor, the harvesting yield was about 97%. The working productivity was about 98 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1 with the mechanical beater plus nets and around 133 kg of harvested olives h-1 worker-1 when the mechanical beater was combined with a reversed umbrella. The oil obtained from the mechanically harvested olives was always of high quality. A basic economic evaluation of the harvesting costs is also reported.

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Published
2014-11-07
How to Cite
Famiani, F., Farinelli, D., Rollo, S., Camposeo, S., Di Vaio, C., & Inglese, P. (2014). Evaluation of different mechanical fruit harvesting systems and oil quality in very large size olive trees. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 12(4), 960-972. https://doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2014124-5794
Section
Agricultural engineering