A Portable Device to Assist in the Harvest of Coffee in Colombia
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Resumen
Descripción
The harvest is one of the most important activities in coffee crops; on the one hand, it provides employment opportunities for a large group of rural workers and on the other, it supplies mature fruits for the production of high quality coffee. In the present study, a device was designed and evaluated to assist in manual coffee harvesting, called Alfa, which employs a three- toothed blade beater, a DC motor powered by dry batteries and a system for receiving detached fruits. The research proceeded in two phases; in the first, the device was designed and built; in the second, an evaluation was carried out by using traditional manual collection as a comparison. The evaluations were developed in four locations: three experimental stations of Cenicafé and one private property. The variables studied were: number of fruits left on the ground after harvest, percentage of immature coffee in the harvested mass and yield. The device presented an operating time of four days without recharging, a weight less than four kg and an absence of technical failures; the operators had no problems with its use; and, in addition, it was possible to increase the yield of the operators by almost 70%; the percentage of immature coffee was between 4.5% and 3% and losses were between one and 19 fruits per site.
Palabras clave
Agrociencias