Preparing Orchards For Labor-Saving Technology

During the Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention in Hershey, PA, Pennsylvania State University’s Jim Schupp led a session on preparing orchards for some of the new labor-saving technology on the horizon.

Schupp said during his talk that research has shown that harvesting platforms can increase efficiency anywhere from 30% to 60%, resulting in a savings of $128 to $285 per acre. However, there are some barriers to overcome in regards to this technology, including financial concerns (the machines do require a large initial investment) and the lag time between investment and the first returns. Before making an investment like this, the grower first has to be both profitable and optimistic.

He added that he often hears growers say they need to know today how to plant their blocks so they will be easily adaptable to new, harvest-assist technology coming down the pike. The good news, he says, is that most of the intensive, high-density systems being planted today will work.

Tree architecture is critical, and creating a tall, narrow wall of trees is the best option. Trees should be about 2 to 3 feet apart, with no more than 14 feet between rows, as in vertical axis or tall spindle orchards. Schupp added that the only permanent limb should be the central leader, although new plantings being tested in Italy called Bi-Axis systems actually use two vertical leaders to help form a narrow tree wall.

Improved rootstocks will be a key component in the future, too. Size, precocity, and disease resistance in some of the newer rootstocks will work great for high-density, easily mechanized orchards.

Farther down the road, Schupp says precise tree training will help make mechanical harvesting easier. Precise branch placement has the possibility to make fruit to grow close to the wires on a trellis system, so that when the human eye is taken out of the equation, robotic devices will be able to predict where the fruit is.

Research on these topics is ongoing, Schupp says, and he hopes to get additional funding for further study through USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative.