Research and Development of Oil Palm Loose Fruit Collecting Machine

Abstract

Loose fruits of up to 10 kg./rai could be left on the ground after oil palm harvesting. Hired harvesters usually do not pick loose fruits from the area, leaving them for the farmers to finish the job. To solve this problem, an air suction-type oil palm loose fruit collector was developed, to supplant the hand picking practice. The design was based on the principle of air suction, by employing a vacuum fruit chamber attached to a suction hose. Once the hose is opened, air suction is created, allowing loose fruits to be sucked into the chamber. A field trial conducted at plantations in Tha Chana district, Surat Thani province revealed that the collecting
capacity of the air suction-type collector was 1.28 kg./min with an average fuel consumption rate of 112 cc. per rai, while that of hand pick by workers was 2.01 kg./min. Hence, the collecting speed by workers was significantly faster. This tool is more suitable for large-scale farmers than those with small-scale plantations as the cost is rather high. Accordingly, a development of a set of low-price loose fruit pickers based on the law of elasticity of spring was conducted. The tools comprised a basket-type picker - prototype. The design of the basket-type pickers also employed the same principle - splitting open and returning to the normal position of an elastic object. By applying a little pressure against the loose fruit, the fruit will be entrapped inside the basket; and all fruits can be removed directly from the basket. A field trial showed that the collecting capacity of the basket-type pickers: prototype is 1.32 kg./min each of which represents no significant difference when compared to manual labour. However, fruit collecting machine could help reducing the farmer fatigue.