Articles
MACHINE HARVESTING SYSTEM FOR EASTERN THORNLESS BLACKBERRIES
Our objectives are to develop: (1) information on factors associated with nonuniform ripening; (2) strategies to concentrate fruit maturity; (3) new machine harvesting principles; and (4) trellis/training systems for current cultivars adapted to machine harvesting.
Our findings to date indicate: (1) long bloom period is the major factor contributing to wide range in fruit maturity; (2) inflorescence type influences bloom duration (e.g. a racemose inflorescence completes bloom in shorter time than paniculate types); (3) fruit detachment force between mature and immature fruit is not significantly different that application of a force required to remove 80% of mature fruit detach many immature fruit; (4) single preharvest applications of ethephon advance maturity but were ineffective in reducing numbers of harvest; (5) development of a bramble harvester with new shaking concepts can remove 90% of mature berries, but 10–70% of the total crop harvested was comprised of immature fruit; and (6) a T-trellis training system provided fruiting surface more suitable for machine harvesting than conventional vertical trellises.