Abstract

A number of problems arise in attempts to use a straddle harvester on raspberry crops grown in the conventional way. Damage to young cane results in reduced yield in the following year, and the presence of this young cane may also increase the amount of fruit dropped to the ground.
The biennial cropping system, in which the fruiting and vegetative phases are separated in time, eliminates the damage problem and may also increase the amount of fruit recovered by the machine. In addition it should offer significant savings in harvesting costs because of the higher yield per unit length of row compared with the annual system.