| dc.description.abstract |
Harvesting is one of the most important activities in the post harvest life of fruits. In most part
of the country, mango harvesting is still carried out in the traditional manual harvesting
method, which consumes more time and labour. The structure of the mango tree and irregular
maturity period are the major obstacle for introducing mechanical harvesters. Anyhow,
mechanical harvesters are expected to result high yield compare to traditional harvesters.
The harvesting techniques such as improved mango harvester, picking poles and hand picking
were taken to the selected testing area and mangos were harvested in a particular period
from different mango varieties like Willard, Karutha Columban and Vellai Columban. Then
the harvesting rate and harvest and post harvest losses were compared in each technique with
different varieties.
Harvesting performance was high in improved mango harvester in all tested mango varieties
(270 mangoes in Willard and 188 and 196 mangoes in Karutha Columban and Vellai
Columban, respectively). The lowest harvesting performance was observed in hand picking in
all varieties (170 mangoes in Willard and 130 and 130 mangoes in Karutha Columban and
Vellai Columban, respectively). Higher harvesting performance was observed in Willard
mango tree in all tested mango harvesting devices (270, 220 and 170 mangoes in Improved
harvesting device, picking pole and hand picking, respectively). Harvesting performance in
Karutha Columban and Vellai Columban mango trees were almost same in all tested
harvesting devices. Harvest and post harvest losses of mango were minimum in improved
mango harvesting technique when compare to other techniques. |
en_US |