Abstract

Yields from raspberry crops harvested by machine are lower than from those harvested by hand. Losses during harvests are made up of green fruit prematurely removed, fruit dropped to the ground, and fruit which rots because it is left unpicked by the harvester. Each time the machine passes through the crop it damages the young cane which will bear the following year's crop and this also results in a yield reduction.
Figures are given for the magnitude of some of these losses, and suggestions made for alleviating the problems.