Evaluating the Suitability of a Combine Harvester Equipped with the Sunflower Header to Harvest Cardoon Seeds: A Case Study in Central Italy

Abstract

Cardoon seeds have been proved to thrive in the Mediterranean region, even under low input management and its biomass is suitable for several food and industrial uses. Despite that, a proper value chain has not been set properly and uncertainty still lays among producers and industries, particularly concerning the harvesting stage. The present study supports, via field trials, the hypothesis that cardoon seeds can be harvested using a conventional combine harvester equipped with the sunflower header. Theoretical field capacity (TFC), effective field capacity (EFC), and field efficiency (FE) were 2.36 ha h−1, 2.05 ha h−1, and 1.82 Mg h−1, respectively, while harvesting costs were calculated as 69.52 € ha−1. Seed loss was only 3.2% w/w of the potential seed yield. The machinery’s performance, costs, and seed loss are comparable with sunflower harvesting, underlying the possibility to use the available technology directly to harvest cardoon seeds.

Effectiveness of Three Terminating Products on Reducing the Residual Moisture in Dwarf Castor Plants: A Preliminary Study of Direct Mechanical Harvesting in Central Greece

“…CSL also contributed to increase the total seed loss. Its values usually ranges between 0.58% w/w as reported in cardoon [30] and 5.80% w/w as reported in camelina whose seeds are small and light in weight, thus easy to lose via sieves and fans [31,32].…”

“…The most responsible factor of seed loss was the combine header as reported in Table 2. Usually, when the mechanization is properly developed, the loss of seeds due to impact is 1% w/w canola (Brassica napus L.) [29], or 2.58% w/w in cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) [30] up to 7.95% w/w in camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) [31,32]. CSL also contributed to increase the total seed loss.…”

Assessing the Performance of a Subsurface Water Retention System (SWRS) Prototype: First Evaluation of Work Productivity and Costs

“…In detail, the working times were divided into: effective working time, maneuver time, avoidable delay time, unavoidable delay time and accessory time (for instance, the time needed to replace the roll). The elaboration of working time allowed for the identification of the theoretical field capacity (TFC, ha h −1 ) of the effective field capacity (EFC, ha h −1 ), and of the field efficiency (FE, %, consisting of the ratio between EFC and TFC), as reported in previous similar studies of working time evaluation [40][41][42]. These parameters were calculated for single operations and throughout the working system.…”

Design and Experiment of Plate Taking Control System of Edible Sunflower (Edulis helianthus catino L.) Harvester

“…At the same time, it is of great significance to reduce the labor intensity of farmers, improve operation efficiency, reduce the production cost of edible sunflowers and improve production efficiency. Due to the variety and climate of sunflower (edible sunflower, oil sunflower) in other countries, edible sunflower is mostly harvested by joint harvesting, and the cutting table is commonly used for edible sunflower and oil sunflower [10][11][12]. For example, the Helianthus 12000 series sunflower header developed by the company Capello in Italy (Capello Srl, Via Valle Po, 10012100 Cuneo, Italy), the Falcon series sunflower header developed by the company Rostselmash in Russia (Rostselmash, Rostov Nadon, Rostov Oblast, Russia), the G3 series sunflower header developed by the company Fantini in Italy and the ZIECLER series sunflower header developed by the company Dragotec in Germany (Dragotec International GmbH, Hub 7, 84329 Wurmannsquick, Germany.)…”