Development of Mechanical Harvesting of California Olives

Mechanical harvesting must be developed for successful table olive production in California.  Both canopy contact shaking head and trunk shaking harvesters can produce processed black ripe 'Manzanillo' olives that neither trained sensory panels nor consumer panels could distinguish from hand-harvested olives.  However, both types of harvesters remove and capture less than the 80% efficiency required for economically feasible mechanical table olive harvesting.  The harvesters differ in their removal patterns, efficiency, and types of tree damage.  No successful abscission compounds to decrease fruit removal force have been identified.  Therefore, as with oil olives, the tree shape must be modified for successful mechanical table olive harvesting.  Recent results demonstrate training to an espalier shape, with and without a trellis, in high density hedgerows, does not decrease yield.  These espaliered hedgerow orchards can be harvested with both canopy contact and trunk shakers.   Therefore, the traditional California table olive industry must adapt a modified version of the high density and super high density orchards, designed specifically for mechanical harvesting, now being developed for olive oil production in California.