Abstract
We have developed a potato haulm remover with a mechanism that pulls out and shreds both the haulm and subterranean stolons. This machine is a self-propelled type that processes two ridges at a time, and is installed with a pair of sponge-coated lifting belts to grip and pull out the haulms and stolons. The design currently includes two plates to re-earth up the ridges and thus re-bury any loosened potatoes. This machine accuracy is 97-99%. The rate of unearthed potatoes is less than 1%. The machine travels at 1.1m/s and is capable of processing about 50a/h at a work efficiency of about 90%. Fields processed with our machine for pulling up potato haulm, rather than simple shredding, contained fewer stolons. Our results showed that stolon removal got a harvesting efficiency 40% better than only shredding the potato haulm.
