Improvement of Harvester Performance and Development of Fruit Collecting Methods for Boxthorn (Lycium chinense Mill.)
Background : Fruit picking is the most labor consuming procedure for Boxthorn (Lycium chinense Mill.) growers. Recently fruit harvesters were invented and improved in the efficiency to fulfill the expectation of farmers through field demonstration tests. Additionally, T-type hedge cultivation method harmonized well with fruit picking machine, but it also needed to be improved in its’ pruning methods for the efficiency of fruit collecting procedure. Methods and Results : In this experiment, ‘Cheong-un’ cultivar and local variety were grown in the rain shelter greenhouses for the tests. Plots were set by randomized block design. There were two types of previously developed harvesters. One vibrates it’s harvest rod right and left (A type) and the other shakes it’s rod back and forth (B type). Among two harvesters A type was superior to B type in efficiency and convenience in use and it was able to harvest eleven times more fruits than manual picking in simple comparison test. In field comparison test, A type harvester performed 4.6 to 5 times more fruits than manual fruit picking. T-type hedge cultivation method is the proper way of enhancing efficiency of harvester. In the test, wiry perpendicular branches formed by once pruning method hindered moving forward of fruit collector. However installing collecting net with velcro along the edge under the field increased the efficiency and handiness of fruit harvester and well harmonized with T-type hedge cultivation. Conclusion : From the above results, the newly developed fruit harvester could increase the annual income of Boxthorn growers by reducing fruit picking labor and time.