Experimental tests on a new harvesting system for Burley tobacco
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Date
2013-09-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Page Press
Abstract
The globalization of the tobacco production has led to a drop in com
petitiveness of the Italian tobacco on the world market. Burley is the
main variety of tobacco cropped in Campania region of Southern Italy.
Its leaves have to be sewn, in the curing phase. Aim of this work is to
show the results of the implementation of a new harvest machine pro
totype. Basically, the machine used for Bright tobacco, totally mechan
ical harvested, which doesn’t need to be sewn because it requires an
indirect-fire treatment into the curing furnaces. The machine was
modified in order to mechanize harvesting of Burley tobacco, and test
ed on four cultivars of Burley tobacco under three different planting
layouts. The Burley tobacco leaves can be harvested mechanically by
pulling individual leaves off the stalk; leaves are then sorted and tied
in bundles prior to sewing. A mechanical burley tobacco harvesting
system was evaluated. This machine consists in realizing a leaves ori
entation system based on the different weight between the leaf blade
and the stalk enhanced by an air flow. The measurements taken were
harvest timing, work capacity, and quality standards of the work car
ried out. The results, in terms of user time, range from 6.67 h/ha to
7.80 h/ha while in terms of operational efficiency are between 88% and
89%. The average user capacity recorded for the four cultivars is equal
to 0.14 ha/h, a value far from the one recorded for the same harvesting
machine used for Bright tobacco (0.25 ha/h). The harvest timing
capacity, range from 0.51 t/h to 0.99 t/h. The work productivity goes
from 0.17 t to 0.33 t per hour of human unit respectively. The average
number of detached leaves, depending on the cultivar, has been
between 523 and 744. Concerning the leaf orientation, a general per
centage of 73% was achieved.
Description
Keywords
Burley tobacco, mechanical harvesting, harvest timing.
Citation
Faugno, S., Okello, C., Infascelli, R., Audino, F., Ardito, L., & Pindozzi, S. (2013). Experimental tests on a new harvesting system for Burley tobacco. Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 44(s2).