Pruning systems to adapt traditional olive orchards to new integral harvesters

Olive harvesting and pruning are two operations that highly influenced olive growing costs and competitiveness. Both operations should be related to reach an efficient orchard management. Tree structure should be adapted to selected harvesting method, but it also has to be in accordance with tree and orchard features. This research attempts to assess how traditional olives could be adapted to harvesting with canopy shakers, measuring different parameters for pruning and harvester performance. For this purpose, two pruning tests were conducted in 'Picual' and 'Hojiblanca' traditional olive orchards during four years. Three pruning treatments were pruned to adapt tree canopy to different harvesting systems. Harvesting was performed using two different canopy shakers. Harvesting efficiency and debris production were measured as descriptive variables to analyze harvester performance. On the one hand, pruning fresh weight was highly variable between years, however trunk shaker pruning provided higher amount of yearly, pruning dry weight while canopy shaker pruning generated higher accumulated pruning dry weight. On the other hand, canopy shaker pruning provided higher harvesting efficiency than other pruning systems for pre-commercial harvester. With regard to debris production, it was highly variable, although it provided significant differences between both cultivars. Finally, pruning and harvesting operations should be related to choose an efficient harvesting system and to adapt the trees to the harvester and vice versa. This rule should be taken into account to carry out an adequate mechanization of an olive orchard. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.