The environmental noise level in the rejuvenation pruning on centuries-old olive tree

ArticleIn the Italian agricultural economy, olive cultivation plays a fundamental role, and this is especially true for the southern regions where almost all cultivation is spread. In Calabria, in particular, olive cultivation has seen over the last few decades significantly improve the quality of production also as a result of investments aimed at the creation of new mechanizable plants and/or the modernization of existing ones; today some areas have got both PDO and PGI certification. In the ‘Piana di Gioia Tauro’, located north-west of the Reggio Calabria metropolitan area, olive growing extends over 20,000 hectares and the presence of centuries-old olive tree is still widespread. The olive varieties mainly belong to the local cultivars of ‘Sinopolese’ and ‘Ottobratica’, characterized by a remarkable rusticity and high development, perhaps unique in the world; they reach 20–25 meters high, forming what is called a ‘forest of olive trees’. The pruning operations are carried out by means of chainsaws of different power and size whereby, in addition to the previously described difficulties, operators are exposed to prolonged periods of noise levels. The purpose of this study is precisely to assess the exposure of operators to this particular olive grove. The aim is to identify the acoustic levels generated by the two pruning and cross-cutting activities, the risk thresholds and the exposure to which the individual workers of the two work sites are subjected, giving indications on the appropriate safety distances to maintain (according to current regulations) compared to noise sources

The assessment of hazelnut mechanical harvesting productivity

ArticleHazelnut cultivation represents a new opportunity for Calabrian mountainous and sloping areas (Southern Italy), where no alternative fruit crops, except forestry, could be settled. In this Region, hazelnut production doubled during the last fifty years, inciting the farmers to introduce mechanization in cropping practices such as harvesting in order to increase productivity and decrease production costs. Indeed, harvesting is currently one of the most expensive processes of the productive cycle, moreover to be time consuming if carried out manually. Mechanization degree depends significantly on the terrain topography: in sloping areas, rakes are often associated to aspirating machines to harvest the fallen fruit, while the employment of harvesting machines from the ground prevails in flat areas. In this context, the present paper aims to assess technical and economic aspects of harvesting operation, using a harvester from the ground model ‘Jolly 2800’ (GF s.r.l., Italy). Particularly, for technical purposes data about operational working time as well as working productivity were collected according to CIOSTA requirements, in two harvesting sites, whereas, for mechanical harvesting economic evaluation, an estimation model was applied to calculate machinery cost per hour. Moreover, the cost per kg of hazelnut in shell and the average cost per hectare were estimated also. The obtained results show a working productivity of 0.065 ha h-1 op-1 in the first harvesting site, while it was equal to 0.022 ha h -1 op-1 in the second one. Concerning the average cost per hectare, the second harvesting site showed the worst economic performances, with 550.76 € ha-1 against 182.54 € ha-1 obtained in the first one

Spatial distribution of coarse root biomass and carbon in a high-density olive orchard: effects of mechanical harvesting methods

The in situ 3D root architecture of Olea europea was described by a semi-automatic 3D digitizing approach, which permitted the estimation of the biomass and carbon content of coarse roots in the soil environment.Coarse roots, the skeleton of the root system, are of primary importance for soil exploration and plant anchorage and only recently have been recognized as playing a major role in "long-term" carbon sequestration. Despite this role, the 3D architecture of coarse roots represents a gap in knowledge on the biomass and carbon allocation within the root system and, consequently, below-ground carbon sequestration capacity. Using a semi-automatic 3D digitizing approach (3 Space Fastrak plus Long Ranger), the 3D distribution in the soil environment of coarse root biomass and C content and how these parameters were affected by manual and mechanical (trunk shaker) harvesting methods were quantified in a high-density olive orchard. The below-ground C content at stand level was estimated to be 11.93 Mg C ha(-1) and distributed at deeper soil layers (45-60 cm) in the form of first- and second-order branching roots. The present study also revealed that the mechanical harvesting method significantly increased both the angle of growth (0A degrees = vertically downwards) of first-order lateral roots and the stump biomass, but neither the biomass allocation nor the C content was increased within the first three branching orders