Developing Mechanical Harvesting for California Black Ripe Table Olives: Olea europaea cv. 'Manzanillo'
Developing Mechanical Harvesting for California Black Ripe Table Olives: Olea europaea cv. 'Manzanillo'
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Ballroom A/B/C (Rosen Plaza Hotel)
The Olea europaea cv. “Manzanillo” destined for “California Black Ripe” table olive processing is harvested before fully mature with fruit detachment forces over 5.0 N. Superficial bruises but not those extending into the flesh, are masked by the processing methods as the immature fruit is oxidized to black during processing. A jatropha canopy contact harvester was modified to adapt the density and length of the radiating tines to extend into the 1.0 m olive canopy depth. Preliminary studies determined a head speed of 300 rpm and 12.5 cm displacement and 91.5 cm tine length is most suitable for table olive harvest. In the first of two field experiments a 19-year old 4x8 m hedgerow orchard with an 18.5 ton/ha crop was harvested with 92% average efficiency versus an 81% efficiency for a hand pruned conventional control orchard with 32.58 ton/ha crop. The same harvester achieved 81% efficiency in a 12 year old, 3.7x5.5 m mechanically pruned hedgerow orchard with a 14.53 ton/ha crop and 80% efficiency in a hand pruned hedge row orchard with a 12.93 ton/ha crop.