Evaluation of the effect of soil moisture content during harvesting and potato digger forward speed on potato mechanical damagesý
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Reshad sedghi, Ali | Khorshidi Benam, Mohammad Bagher | Shabestari Khiyabani, Mahdi
The problem of mechanical damages to tubers is more considered with increasing mechanization level of potato harvesting and post harvesting operation. These damages occur when the tubers collide with a mobile or fixed part of the machine, stones and clods in the farms. In this research, the effects of soil moisture content, forward speed and operation depth during harvesting by a potato digger were studied on tubers quantitative and qualitative damages and the optimum conditions were determined for treatments. The experiments were arranged as a strip split plot test based on complete block design with three factors and replications. Mechanical damage rates of potatoes due to mechanized and traditional (manual) harvesting methods were compared by t-test. Results showed that buried tubers rate (quantitative loss) was increased with increasing of forward speed and operation depth. The interactive effects of soil moisture content, forward speed and operation depth on External Damage Index (EDI) were significant. Peeled tubers rate was reduced by increasing forward speed at soil moisture of 40 % FC and the least damage rate obtained at soil moisture of 60 % FC. The cutting damage of tubers in traditional harvesting method was more than mechanized one, but the peeling damage rate was less. Generally, external damage rate of tubers in traditional method was significantly more than that obtained from mechanized method. Key Words: Mechanized harvesting, Potato, Mechanical damage, Soil moisture content, Forward speed, Operation depth.
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