Operational performance of the mechanized and semi-mechanized potato harvest

Engenharia Agrícola

João P. A. R. Da Cunha²  Daniel H. Martins¹  Walter G. Da Cunha¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Instituto de Ciências Agrárias

关键词: mechanical harvest;    field efficiency;    operational cost;    Solanum tuberosum;    colheita mecânica;    eficiência de campo;    custo operacional;    Solanum tuberosum;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0100-69162011000400020

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Potato is an important crop plant throughout the world. Harvesting is a fundamental step in its production system. Maybe, it is the most complex and expensive operation. Thus, the objective of this work was to compare the cost of the mechanized and semi-mechanized harvest, the operational capacity and the production losses during the potato harvest process. The work was accomplished in a commercial farming, cultivated under pivot system, in the municipal district of Perdizes - MG, Brazil. A completely randomized design with two treatments was used: mechanized and semi-mechanized harvest. The mechanized harvest used a self-propelled harvester. In the semi-automated harvest, a digger mounted on tractor was used and the potato was manually harvested. It was concluded that the cost of mechanized harvest was 49.03% lower than the cost of semi-mechanized harvest. On average, the harvester had a work for 23 workers in manual harvest. Mechanized harvest showed losses of 2.35% of potato yield, while the semi-mechanized harvest showed losses of 6.32%.

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