A review of Berry Harvest Machine Development in Sweden

Sven Olander

Olmatek KB

High Density (Solid Bed) Cultural System for strawberries

• Based on close planting, and no rows

• Higher yield and more concentrated ripening

• Berries are supported on leaves and easier to harvest

• First used together with mechanical harvest in Michigan in the 1980’s

Strawberry harvester

• Design work started 1986, and was completed 1989

• Based on the design originally created by Professor Clarence Hansen and Richard Ledebuhr at MSU.

• The first two years was concentrated on constructing and testing the header

• 1988 design of a complete harvester started

High Density Cultural System (Solid Bed) for bush fruit

• Test plots with raspberries and black currants was planted 1986

• Potted plants were established from softwood cuttings

• Plants were planted with 50 x 50 cm spacings

Raspberries

• In raspberries, the idea was to find cultivars with compact growing, and concentrated ripening

• The close planting spaces made all kind of training to wires and posts un necessary.

• Harvest would be once over destructive harvesting

Black currants

• First harvest was already in the second season, only 16 months after planting

• The best black currant cultivar yielded 26 tons per ha at first harvest

HD bush fruit harvester

• Design started in 1989 and was completed in 1994

• The harvester cuts off the bushes, and separates the berries from the cut off branches

• A novel kind of skaker was needed to get shaking in axial direction

• In experment with single shoots, more than 99 % efficiency in separation was measured.

Video of shakers

Sea Buckthorn

No abscission layer

• Add picture with bark damage