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CC BY-NC V4.0, Open Access
Thesis
Mechanization in the cider apple orchard to reduce labor time
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
07/2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006919
Abstract
While fresh-eating, dessert apples dominate the apple market of Washington State, the over 30-fold national increase in volumetric cider production over the past 15 years indicates there is growing demand for specialty cider apples, or apple cultivars with positive cider-making attributes such as high polyphenol content and titratable acidity. In a commercial cider orchard, the labor costs associated with thinning, pruning, and harvest comprise a majority of the annual variable production costs once the orchard is in full production; thus, reducing the labor time to perform these tasks has the potential to increase the appeal and profitability of growing cider apples. Further, when cider apples are pressed into juice soon after harvest, cosmetic damage and bruising of the fruit during harvest has minimal impact on juice quality, indicating a strong potential for harvest mechanization. This study separately examines summer mechanical hedging for pruning and shaping orchard rows, as well as mechanized over-the-row harvest (using a modified Oxbo-Korvan 930 harvester) in a multi-cultivar cider apple orchard. Mechanical hedging both sides of the orchard row occurred at a rate of 2.1-3.5 seconds per meter across 5 years. Across 16 cultivars and 3 years, mechanical harvest occurred at a rate of 2.7-3.1 seconds per meter, and the average capture efficiency was 82% with no significant differences among cultivars. Based on these results, a combination of mechanical pruning and harvest could significantly lower labor time, and thus the total production costs, associated with growing cider apples.
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Details
- Title
- Mechanization in the cider apple orchard to reduce labor time
- Creators
- Seth C. Brawner
- Contributors
- Carol Miles (Chair)Lee Kalcsits (Committee Member)Manoj Karkee (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Horticulture
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 102
- Identifiers
- 99901136841401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis