Efficiency of coffee mechanical and selective harvesting in different vibration during harvest time

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to assess the operating performance of mechanical harvesting of the fruit of coffee trees (Coffea arábica L.) with a KTR® Advance harvester using a “neuro-fuzzy” system which considered the variation of the vibration of the rods and the maturation index of the fruit. The evaluations were carried out fortnightly for 70 days in treatments with vibration levels of 13.33, 15.00 and 16.66 Hz. The volume collected was recorded in each period according to the maturation of the crop as well as determining the percentage of fruit in their maturation according to the used vibration. Based on the “neuro-fuzzy” system, it was possible infer with 92% the harvest efficiency using the KTR® harvester, noting an increase in harvest efficiency by increasing the vibration of the harvester shakers and the coffee fruit maturation index. It was also concluded that with increased vibration, there was an increased percentage of green and selective fruit harvested. Mechanical harvesting was easier when the rate of crop maturation increased. Analyzing the average volume harvested during the entire period, we observed no significant difference in the vibrations of 13.33 and 15.00 Hz, but there were increases of 30.90% and 37.45% when used at higher vibration.