Yahya Al Saleh ^(1)*

(1) . Dept. Faculty of Agriculture, Aleppo University, Aleppo, Syria

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Yahya al Saleh, E-mail: yahya.saleh2@gmail.com).

Received:  1/09/2022          Accepted: 23/02/2023

Abstract: 

The labor shortage during the harvest period and the high costs of manual harvesting are among the factors that cause an increase in production costs. Studies indicate that this problem can be solved through the use of simple harvesting machines that are suitable for most farmers, which are branch-end shakers. In this research, a comparison was made between the method of picking by hand, the method of harvest with combs, and the method of harvest using a shaking machine at the ends of the branches. The harvest took place in the 2020 season on 30-year-old olive trees, the Khalkhali variety, in a field in Aleppo. The trees were not treated with any type of fruit drop stimulant. The results showed that the harvesting efficiency was 97.4%, 95.2 and 82.8%, respectively, for the studied harvesting methods with highly significant differences. The productivity of the worker amounted to 6.9 kg/h, 11.7 kg/h, and 35.7 kg/h, respectively, and for the total affected fruits, which were 1.7%, 4.3%, and 9.6%, respectively. The readings of the ratio of fallen leaves, and small and large branches broken into fruits were not significant.

Keywords: Olive, Olive Harvest, Mechanical Olive Harvesting, Branches Shaker.

Full paper in Arabic: pdf