Orange harvesting scheduling management: a case study

Abstract

The competitiveness of Brazil's citrus sector is a function of quality control in the transformation of fruit into juice. The transformation process commences with the harvest, the timing of which significantly affects fruit quality. In this paper, a mathematical model is formulated that links pertinent chemical, biologic, and logistic restrictions to the quality of the fruit to be harvested, applying linear programming theory. The modelling structure was verified and validated with real data from 320 Brazilian farms involved with an annual production of approximately 7 200 000 boxes of oranges. It could be attested that the maximization of the number of boxes of oranges to be harvested (strategy that is still adopted by a representative number of Brazilian citrus farmers, based on the industry advice) does not necessarily correspond to the maximum quantity of total soluble solids (TSS). In many cases, citrus harvested at the optimum TSS point offered higher concentrated juice productivity. The estimated potential benefits ($) from using the proposed model reached figures over 6%.

Towards the integration of lean principles and optimization for agricultural production systems: a conceptual review proposition

“…Models of decision‐making regarding cereal crops have also been presented, as well as for sugar beet, alfalfa, and vegetables . The scheduling of orange fruits and the modeling of crop planning have also been studied in a way that prioritizes the minimization of inputs . Other models successfully applied included the minimization of the timing of operations and the use of machinery in manual and mechanical harvesting operations, as well as work on the minimization of the gas emissions used in greenhouses …”

Use of MIP for planning temporary immigrant farm labor force

“…For those interested in quality summaries of such literature, Glen (1987) provides a review of early work while Ahumada and Villalobos (2009), Shukla and Jharkharia (2013), and Zhang and Wilhelm (2011) summarize much of the recent literature devoted to planning within the agricultural industry. Research which is specifically related to the model presented in this article are those which focus on harvesting decisions specifically (Caixeta-Filho, 2006;Allen and Schuster, 2004;Bohle et al, 2010) as well as those focusing on the overall agricultural scheduling methodology (Caixeta-Filho et al, 2002, Hazell, 1971. It should also be noted that mathematical models are found in other areas of the agricultural supply chain as demonstrated by those focusing on distribution (Broekmeulen, 1998;Cholette, 2007;Rantala, 2004), packaging (Blanco et al, 2005;Davis et al, 2002), storage (Starbird, 1988), and the complete production and logistics planning process (Kopanos et al, 2012;Amorim et al, 2012;Yu and Nagurney, 2013).…”

Integrated Harvest and Distribution Scheduling with Time Windows of Perishable Agri-Products in One-Belt and One-Road Context

“…Lamsal et al [17] addressed the integrated sugarcane harvest and delivery scheduling problem. Caixeta-Filho [18] studied the optimal orange harvest time. Supsomboon and Niemsaku [19] considered an integrated cultivation and harvest planning problem.…”