Vibration Monitoring of the Mechanical Harvesting of Citrus to Improve Fruit Detachment Efficiency

Castro-Garcia;  Aragon-Rodriguez;  Sola-Guirado;  Serrano;  Soria-Olivas;  Gil-Ribes

doi:10.3390/s19081760

Vibration Monitoring of the Mechanical Harvesting of Citrus to Improve Fruit Detachment Efficiency

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s19081760 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (8) ◽

pp. 1760 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Castro-Garcia ◽

Aragon-Rodriguez ◽

Sola-Guirado ◽

Serrano ◽

Soria-Olivas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Field Tests ◽

Fruit Production ◽

Vibration Monitoring ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

Triaxial Accelerometer ◽

Tree Canopies ◽

Vibration Process ◽

Harvesting Process ◽

Vibration Time ◽

Complete Process

The introduction of a mechanical harvesting process for oranges can contribute to enhancing farm profitability and reducing labour dependency. The objective of this work is to determine the spread of the vibration in citrus tree canopies to establish recommendations to reach high values of fruit detachment efficiency and eliminate the need for subsequent hand-harvesting processes. Field tests were carried out with a lateral tractor-drawn canopy shaker on four commercial plots of sweet oranges. Canopy vibration during the harvesting process was measured with a set of triaxial accelerometer sensors with a datalogger placed on 90 bearing branches. Monitoring of the vibration process, fruit production, and branch properties were analysed. The improvement of fruit detachment efficiency was possible if both the hedge tree and the machinery were mutually adjusted. The hedge should be trained to facilitate access of the rods and to encourage external fructification since the internal canopy branches showed 43% of the acceleration vibration level of the external branches. The machine should be adjusted to vibrate the branches at a vibration time of at least 5.8 s, after the interaction of the rod with the branch, together with a root mean square acceleration value of 23.9 m/s2 to a complete process of fruit detachment.

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Management of Citrus Tree Canopies for Fresh-Fruit Production

EDIS ◽

10.32473/edis-ss698-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Krajewski ◽

Arnold Schumann ◽

Tim Ebert ◽

Chris Oswalt ◽

Rhuanito Ferrarezi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fruit Production ◽

Fruit Yield ◽

Fresh Fruit ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

High Quality ◽

Tree Canopies ◽

Yield Quality ◽

High Production ◽

Soil And Water ◽

Canopy Management

Canopy management is a useful tool to induce precocity and maintain high production of optimum-sized, high-quality fruit. The aim of this new 8-page publication of the UF/IFAS Department of Soil and Water Sciences is to provide growers with practical tools with which to manage their trees for maximum fresh-fruit yield, quality, and profitability. Written by Andrew Krajewski, Arnold Schumann, Tim Ebert, Chris Oswalt, Rhuanito S. Ferrarezi, and Laura Waldo.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss698

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Stem Flow, Throughfall, and Canopy Interception of Rainfall by Citrus Tree Canopies

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.32.6.1059 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 32 (6) ◽

pp. 1059-1160 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Y.C. Li ◽

A.K. Alva ◽

D.V. Calvert ◽

M. Zhang

Keyword(s):

Tree Canopy ◽

Storm Event ◽

Citrus Paradisi ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

Canopy Interception ◽

Canopy Effect ◽

Tree Canopies ◽

Stem Flow ◽

Citrus Cultivar ◽

Rain Events

It is generally believed that the interception of rain by the citrus tree canopy can substantially decrease the throughfall under the canopy as compared to that along the dripline or outside the canopy (incident rainfall). Therefore, the position of placement of soil-applied agrichemicals in relation to the tree canopy may be an important consideration to minimize their leaching during rain events. In this study, the distributions of rainfall under the tree canopies of three citrus cultivars, `Marsh' grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.), `Hamlin' orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck), and `Temple' orange (Citrus hybrid), were evaluated at four directions (north, south, east, west), two positions (dripline and under the canopy), and stem flow. There was not a significant canopy effect on rainfall amounts from stem flow or dripline, compared with outside canopy, for any citrus cultivar or storm event. However, throughfall varied significantly among the four cardinal directions under the canopy of all three citrus cultivars and was highly related to the wind direction. Among the three citrus cultivars evaluated in this study, throughfall, stem flow, and canopy interception accounted for 89.5% to 92.7%, 0.5% to 4.7%, and 5.8% to 9.3% of the incident rainfall, respectively.

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An Economic Assessment of the Impact of Huanglongbing on Citrus Tree Plantings in Florida

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.49.8.1052 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 49 (8) ◽

pp. 1052-1055 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Thomas H. Spreen ◽

Jean-Paul Baldwin ◽

Stephen H. Futch

Keyword(s):

Adverse Effect ◽

Tree Mortality ◽

Economic Assessment ◽

Fruit Production ◽

The State ◽

Bacterial Disease ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

Maintenance Costs ◽

Citrus Production ◽

The Impact

Huanglongbing (HLB) was first discovered in Florida in 2005. It can now be found in all counties in the state where commercial citrus production takes place. HLB is a bacterial disease that is transmitted by the Asiatic citrus psyllid. HLB negatively affects citrus producers in several ways, including reduced yield, increased grove maintenance costs, and increased tree mortality. The research presented in this article suggests that another consequence of HLB is its adverse effect on the willingness of producers to invest in new plantings. Reduced plantings imply reduced fruit production in the future.

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SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF SOIL WATER UNDER CITRUS TREE CANOPIES IN CENTRAL FLORIDA

Acta Horticulturae ◽

10.17660/actahortic.2009.824.16 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 147-154 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

L.J. Waldo ◽

A.W. Schumann

Keyword(s):

Spatial Variability ◽

Soil Water ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

Central Florida ◽

Tree Canopies

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Vision-Based Vibration Monitoring of Structures and Infrastructures: An Overview of Recent Applications

Infrastructures ◽

10.3390/infrastructures6010004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 4

Author(s):

Alessandro Zona

Keyword(s):

Civil Engineering ◽

Low Cost ◽

Field Tests ◽

Review Article ◽

Vibration Monitoring ◽

Structural Monitoring ◽

Technical Literature ◽

Strong Earthquakes ◽

Scale Field ◽

Introductory Discussion

Contactless structural monitoring has in recent years seen a growing number of applications in civil engineering. Indeed, the elimination of physical installations of sensors is very attractive, especially for structures that might not be easily or safely accessible, yet requiring the experimental evaluation of their conditions, for example following extreme events such as strong earthquakes, explosions, and floods. Among contactless technologies, vision-based monitoring is possibly the solution that has attracted most of the interest of civil engineers, given that the advantages of contactless monitoring can be potentially obtained thorough simple and low-cost consumer-grade instrumentations. The objective of this review article is to provide an introductory discussion of the latest applications of vision-based vibration monitoring of structures and infrastructures through an overview of the results achieved in full-scale field tests, as documented in the published technical literature. In this way, engineers new to vision-based monitoring and stakeholders interested in the possibilities of contactless monitoring in civil engineering could have an outline of up-to-date achievements to support a first evaluation of the feasibility and convenience for future monitoring tasks.

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Air-tower sprayers increase spray application efficiency in mature citrus trees

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea98028 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 38 (8) ◽

pp. 871 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

G. P. Cunningham ◽

J. Harden

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Tree Canopy ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

Air Contamination ◽

Run Off ◽

Low Profile ◽

Tree Canopies ◽

Citrus Leaves ◽

Full Height ◽

Citrus Trees

Summary. Conventional pesticide spraying in citrus crops with low-profile sprayers results in pest management problems because of the poor distribution of pesticide throughout the tree. Pesticide losses, particularly drift, are a concern with this type of sprayer especially in orchards situated in or near urban areas. The spray deposit on citrus leaves and fruit and off-target losses (canopy run-off and drift) were determined for air-assisted low-profile sprayers and air-assisted sprayers fitted with tower air conveyors (air-towers). The air-tower sprayers produced even distribution of leaf spray deposits through the full height of the tree canopy while the low-profile sprayers produced decreasing leaf spray deposits with increasing height in the trees. The Metters tower sprayer and Cropliner low-profile sprayer resulted in increasing deposits from the 0˚ axis through to the 90˚ axis to sprayer travel while the Barlow tower sprayer and the Hardi low-profile sprayer produced a more even distribution of deposits through the axes to sprayer travel. Fruit deposits were not significantly different between sprayers. The Barlow tower sprayer produced significantly less canopy spray run-off compared with the low-profile sprayers. The Barlow tower sprayer resulted in a significant reduction in spray drift in the above tree zone compared with the Hardi low-profile sprayer. Better distribution of pesticides in citrus tree canopies will improve pest control especially in the top sections of the tree as this is where the greatest increase in pesticide deposit is achieved with air-tower sprayers. Both ground and air contamination from pesticides can also be reduced by using sprayers fitted with air-tower conveyors designed to produce even airflows for the full height of the citrus trees being sprayed.

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Citrus Tree Growth and Fruit Production Response to Flue-Gas Desulfurization Gypsum Amendment in Sandy Soils

Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements in Coal and Coal Combustion Byproducts ◽

10.1007/978-1-4615-4155-4_19 ◽

1999 ◽

pp. 293-307 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A. K. Alva ◽

B. Zhu ◽

H. K. Hostler ◽

T. A. Obreza

Keyword(s):

Tree Growth ◽

Flue Gas ◽

Sandy Soils ◽

Fruit Production ◽

Flue Gas Desulfurization ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

Production Response

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Managing the health and productivity of HLB-affected groves

EDIS ◽

10.32473/edis-hs1288-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Tripti Vashisth

Keyword(s):

Citrus Canker ◽

Fruit Production ◽

Citrus Greening ◽

Dramatic Reduction ◽

Citrus Tree ◽

Citrus Greening Disease ◽

Disease Vector ◽

Citrus Diseases ◽

The World ◽

Greening Disease

In 2005, Huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening disease was first discovered in Florida. Florida orange production changed from 242 million boxes (90 lbs/box) in the pre-hurricane, pre-HLB, 2003-04 season to 81.5 million boxes in 2015-16. This dramatic reduction in yield is attributable to multiple causes, including a reduction in citrus acreage, citrus canker and other citrus diseases. HLB is now recognized as the primary reason for declining citrus yields. Growers are urgently looking for strategies to maintain fruit production in their groves under endemic HLB conditions. After years of extensive research from across the world, we still do not have a cure for HLB, however we have learned a lot about this disease, the plant’s response and the disease vector. Based on the scientific and observational information gathered in the last decade a number of tools and strategies are currently available for growers to maintain the health and productivity of HLB-affected trees. In this article we will be shedding light on these currently available horticultural inputs and practices that can be implemented immediately by growers to maintain and improve citrus tree health.

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