Study on Work Efficiency and Practical Scale of a Movable Bench System for Strawberry Cultivation

Abstract

To elucidate the practical scale of a movable bench system for strawberry cultivation, we investigated harvesting efficiency using the system. Our results indicated that working hours required for harvesting per cultivation bed depended on the number of mature fruits. If there were relatively few fruits, the working hours depended on the cycle time of the system. In contrast, if there were many fruits, the working hours, which increased in proportion to the number of fruits, were affected by the picking and placing speed of the operator. It also appeared that the maximum practical scale of the system was approximately 770m² with two operators.