Abstract

Progress in mechanical harvesting of berry crops is described. Sections on various crops (blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, currants, grapes and strawberries) summarize the history of machine harvesting, the principles used to develop the machines, the cultural practices adopted and plant breeding efforts toward developing machine-harvestable cultivars. The postharvest processing and uses of machine harvested fruit are noted together with the economic benefits of machine harvesting and its present status. Each section also contains projections for the future of machine harvesting in each crop.