ISHS Acta Horticulturae 556: V International Congress on Hazelnut
TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF HAZELNUT MECHANICAL HARVESTING |
| Authors: | S. Franco, D. Monarca |
| Keywords: | hazelnut harvesting, harvester performance |
| Abstract:
The technical and economical aspects of hazelnut mechanical harvesting, in the Monti Cimini production area of central Italy, were analyzed in this research. The Monti Cimini area produced about 40,000 tons of hazelnuts in 1998, which accounted for more than 5% of world production. In this production area, mechanical harvesting of hazelnuts has been used for several years. During this period, a continuous technical improvement of harvesting machines has taken place. One of the main reasons for this development is the close interaction between local farmers and the manufacturers of the harvesters, all of whom are located in this area. At the moment there are three main types of hazelnut harvesting machines: pulled harvesters (with aspirating tubes or side-pickers), self-propelled vacuum harvesters and mechanical harvesters. They all vary in technical characteristics, field capacity, operating costs and purchase price. In our research, the main technical characteristics of the different types of hazelnut harvesting machines were analyzed and an economic analysis was performed to evaluate the profitability of the purchase. To develop the analysis, fixed costs, operating costs and labor for the different machines were considered. In addition, the performance of the harvesters in terms of operating time, product quantity and operator safety were evaluated. Collected data were analyzed to compare the technical and economical aspects of the different ways of harvesting. | |
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