Development of Welsh Onion Harvester for Tractor

Abstract

Purpose:To ascertain the increase of the farm income that predominantly relies on human resources by mechanizing Welsh onion harvesting, a tractor-mounted Welsh onion harvester was developed in this study. Method: An experiment for evaluating harvesting performance was performed for the developed Welsh onion harvester in an actual Welsh onion farm. The harvest performance was evaluated at the tractor running speeds of 5.0 cm/s, 11.4 cm/s and 15.8 cm/s, by comparing the operating efficiency, harvest rate, and damage rate of the Welsh onion harvester. Results: The performance of the harvester was rated as very good, with a 100% harvest rate, regardless of tractor running speed. Furthermore, it is shown that work efficiency of the harvester is expected to increase as the running speed increases. Nonetheless, the damage rate of the harvested Welsh onions at running speeds 5.0 cm/s, 11.4 cm/s, and 15.8 cm/s, increased correspondingly and proportionally to speeds from 4.55% to 6.53% and to 11.29%. The residual amount of soil on the harvested Welsh onions was about 0.24% of their weight showing excellent soil-removal performance of the harvester. Conclusion: The developed Welsh onion harvester is believed to improve the labor productivity and cultivation environment of Welsh onion farmhouses by the mechanization of the harvesting process that is currently associated with the largest amount of labor hours.

Development and Analysis of a Belt Picking System for Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Harvesting

“…Ugurluay (2008) developed a prototype harvester with belt-pulley mechanism for use in leek production and stated that this harvest head unit can also be used for similar in-row plants. Numerous studies have been carried out for plants such as lentils, peanuts, tubers, garlic, radishes, carrots and green onions that have been handcrafted at the harvest (Jun et al 2005;Geng 2008;Xiaoyan et al 2008;Zhichao et al 2008;Ranbing et al 2009;Deran et al 2010;Wei et al 2011;Jiasheng & Shang 2012;Hong et al 2014).…”