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> Coconuts are...much easier to mechanically harvest than something like berries. The big difference is coconuts aren't produced in rich countries where labor i
by culturestate 6y ago
> Coconuts are...much easier to mechanically harvest than something like berries. The big difference is coconuts aren't produced in rich countries where labor is expensive.
To harvest berries or olives or apples, something in the vicinity of "put a tarp down and shake the tree really hard" is usually a fairly reliable method. Coconuts don't quite work that way, as anyone who grew up in a place with coconut palms and tropical storms can attest.
Not to mention that they're often 30 feet or more off the ground...
- dehrmann 6y agoI think only olives are harvested like that. Table (i.e. non-juice) apples are too fragile to knock to the ground. For berries, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt73GOk4JRY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt73GOk4JRY. Strawberries are different because they're practically on the ground. Not to discount your point. Coconuts don't work like any of these.
- culturestate 6y agoYeah, I took a bit of literary license there. My point was that for most crops, the hardest part of mechanical harvesting isn't[1] actually getting the thing off the tree or the bush or the stalk, it's what happens after that. A combine doesn't do its magic at the head, right? Coconuts are the opposite, and I think it's a more difficult problem than it appears to be. 1. Full disclosure, I'm not a farmer or an engineer, just a guy who has spent some time studying agricultural automation.