Mechanical Hop-Picking Solutions in Italian Cultivated Areas

Alberto Assirelli, Katya Carbone and Roberto Ciccoritti
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Alberto Assirelli: CREA Research Center for Engineering and Agro-food Processing, Via della Pascolare 16, Monterotondo, 00015 Rome, Italy
Katya Carbone: CREA Research Center for Olive, Fruit and Citrus Crops, Via di Fioranello 52, 000134 Rome, Italy
Roberto Ciccoritti: CREA Research Center for Olive, Fruit and Citrus Crops, Via di Fioranello 52, 000134 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Hops for beer production are a crop of growing interest in Italy, requiring specialized harvesting equipment and infrastructure. Several studies have been conducted on hop cultivation and harvesting around the world, but information on Italian hop production is still very scarce. As it turns out, only a few Italian farms are self-sufficient, employing a mechanical harvesting system, while most of them resort to hand-picking. In this study, hand and mechanical hop-picking were investigated, highlighting the longest time necessary for the manual cut (65 ± 5 min for approximately 2 kg of fresh cones). Furthermore, different mechanical solutions for hop harvesting were evaluated; in particular, one hop-picking machine was tested at different settings (full speed and 75% of chain feed). At full speed, it was possible to collect an average of around 96 kg h −1 of fresh cones, while approximately 13% of cones were left unpicked. A speed reduction of approximately 25% made it possible to reduce the cone loss to 8%, with a cone collection of around 86 kg h −1 . Lost and picked cones, however, were strongly related to the number of side-arms growing from the main bines. This experience made it possible to test an old solution for this emerging crop at moderate cost and with good sustainability for the Italian territory.

Keywords: hop production; mechanical harvester; mechanical hop losses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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