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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #363761
Research Project: Production Management Research for Berry Crops (BRIDGE PROJECT)

Location: Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory

Title: Modified over-the-row machine harvesters increase pack-out and fruit quality compared to standard machine harvesters

Author
item DEVETTER, LISA - Washington State University
item Takeda, Fumiomi
item YANG, WEI - Oregon State University
item KORTHUIS, SCOTT - Oxbo International Corporation

Submitted to: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/3/2019
Publication Date: 7/20/2019
Citation: Devetter, L.W., Takeda, F., Yang, W.Q., Korthuis, S. 2019. Modified over-the-row machine harvesters increase pack-out and fruit quality compared to standard machine harvesters [abstract]. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. Paper No. 9309.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Increasing labor costs and low worker availability challenge farms that grow highbush blueberry for the fresh market. Mechanizing harvest operations while maintaining fruit quality and harvest efficiency would greatly benefit the fresh market blueberry industry by reducing growers’ reliance on hand labor for harvesting. Over-the-row (OTR) harvesters are routinely used to harvest fruit for the processing market. However, current commercial OTR harvesters are not routinely used to harvest fresh market blueberry due to increased internal bruise damage of harvested fruit. In this study, a modified Oxbo 8040 OTR harvester with soft-catching surfaces designed to reduce bruising was studied in Oregon and Washington in 2018. Early-to-late season ‘Duke’,‘Draper’, and ‘Liberty’ were harvested with the modified Oxbo 8040 and compared to standard OTR harvesters and hand harvest. Pack-out, fruit firmness, internal bruise damage, and postharvest quality were evaluated. The modified Oxbo 8040 had fruit quality and pack-out equal or comparable to hand harvested fruit and better than standard OTR harvested fruit. Higher fruit quality was generally maintained for two to three weeks with hand harvested fruit but not for machine harvested fruit. Pack-out also varied by cultivar with pack-out being greater for ‘Duke’ and ‘Draper’ compared to ‘Liberty’. Ground speed and head speed of the harvester also impacted pack-out and was cultivar dependent. Overall, harvest efficiency is improved using OTR harvesters, and the soft-catching surfaces in the modified Oxbo 8040 reduced bruising and improved fruit quality compared to standard OTR harvesters. Pack-out and fruit quality were cultivar and plant size dependent, indicating optimizing machine harvesting parameters for fresh market fruit will have to include these factors by the harvester operator.