Preliminary study of pineapple pruning machine for pineapple suckers production
2021
Rohazrin Abdul Rani | Adli Fikri Ahmad Sayuti | Nurul Ahmad Sayuti
In 11th Malaysia plan (RMK-11) a new concept and prototype were developed with a two-blade disc type, powered by a gearbox 1:3 ratio and adjustable height for peat soil condition. After the pineapple crop has reached the age of 15 months, it will be harvested and pruned before fertilizer application work for pineapple sucker production begins. Normally under conventional method, farmers will use a sharp machete or sickle to prune. However, pineapple leaves and cob have high fibres content which can cause pineapple crops to break easily. The conventional method requires a lot of time as well as the need for a large labour force, and the cost of production would also increase in this regard. The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of using a mechanization approach in comparison to the conventional method in pruning of the pineapple crop. A 38hp tractor with high clearance rubber trek powered by power take off (PTO) max speed 540 and tractor rpm 1500 was used in this research. The height of the cutter blade can be adjustable according to the height of the crop needed to be pruned. The capable working rate of the machine was 0.86 ha/hour, speed tractor was 2.03 km/hour Machined time operation was up to 1.2 hour/ha and operated for 8.4 ha/per-day. Additionally, the machine seems have a clean-cut result on pineapple leaves and cob without breaking the pineapple crop.
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