Olive removal with pneumatic branch shaker and abscission chemical

This study involves designing a branch shaker operating with an air compressor and its application for harvesting olives. Fruit detachment force (FDF) and fruit weight (W) were measured and hence the changes in the percentage of removed fruits with shaking were determined at different maturity times. During the harvesting season, two sets of experiments were conducted to test the shaker in the removal of Halhali cultivar olives (Olea europaea L.) with and without application of abscission chemical (ethrel). Experiments were also carried out to determine the effect of the chemical on fruit detachment force, fruit weight, and mechanical harvesting efficiency. Shaking tests showed that the removal percentage of olives without chemical application was lower than 50%. However, application of abscission chemical reduced the FDF/W ratio and thus increased the removal percentage of olives. The lowest fruit detachment force and the highest fruit removal (96%) were obtained by employing a frequency of 24 Hz and 12.5 mL/L concentration of abscission chemical with constant amplitude of 60 mm. Moreover, it was found that the fruit removal efficiency increases with decreasing olive detachment forces. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Cutting parameters of some grape varieties subject to the diameter and age of canes

Grape is an important product for the economy of Turkey and it will continue to play an important role in worldwide grape production due to its large number of varieties, favorable ecological conditions and large production areas. However, pruning and harvesting of grape berries are performed manually with a labor intensive procedure. Therefore, production cost is very high and labor efficiency is low in vineyards. However, pruning and harvesting are the most critical operations in vineyard management. Information regarding the cutting of canes of different grape varieties is very important for a proper harvest machine design as well as the efficient use of energy. In this study, cutting force and cutting energy were measured by considering the factors of grape canes diameter and age of canes. One and two year old grape canes from the Genc Mehmet, Bogazkere and Okuzgozu local varieties were used as experimental material. The canes were obtained from a commercial vineyard in the Diyarbakır province located in southeastern Turkey. Lloyd, LRX plus series, materials testing machine was used for cutting tests. Statistically significant differences were determined between the cutting properties of grape varieties. The cutting force and cutting energy increased with increasing diameter and age of canes. © 2019 Parlar Scientific Publications. All rights reserved

Influence of vermicompost and sheep manure on mechanical properties of tomato fruit

Mechanical properties of the horticultural products play an important role in improving the products quality and storage life after harvesting and also reducing product waste. Recently, using organic fertilizers has increasing trend for producing high‐quality products as well as improvement of soil quality. Two of the best options to produce organic material and sustainability of agricultural production are vermicompost and sheep manure. The present study relied on determination of mechanical properties through pressure and shear tests. Vermicompost and sheep manure were used separately to fertilize the soil. After planting tomato seeds and harvesting, tomato fruits were analyzed by a universal test machine. The results showed that vermicompost was a better fertilizer than sheep manure due to its more appropriate carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N), acidity, and salinity. Also, in the pressure test, the maximum force required for bruise of tomato produced with vermicompost (41.5N) was more than that of control sample (no fertilizer) and sheep manure. In the shearing test, the maximum force required for shearing tomato produced with vermicompost (58.60 N) was lower than that of control sample (no fertilizer) and sheep manure. The findings of this study can be used to reduce the amount of waste at different stages of tomato production and supply including the design and optimization of processing and transportation equipment