US (WA): State University working on new cherry orchard system
The Washington State University is carrying out research into advances that may radically alter the sate of the cherry industry.
The WSU Prosser extension is in the third year of work carried out with a $4 million grant to create a new orchard system for cherry growers.
Matt Whiting, WSU associate professor of stone fruit physiology, said researchers are trying to help growers increase profitability and address labor issues. Not only is labor expensive, but it is also getting increasingly difficult to find.
Whiting says that cherries are a growing industry in Washington, having doubled in cultivation over the last 12 years, to reach 35,000 acres.
As part of the research the scientists are trying to identify cherries that release easily from the stem when the tree is shaken, in order to breed trees that will enable less labor intensive picking.
The researchers have been working on a mechanised shaker that is hooked around a tree. When the machine is turned on the tool's metal arm moves in and out of the handle, shaking the tree and causing some cherries to fall in a catch basin created by a metal frame covered in fabric that surrounded the tree's base.
Some cherries bounce and fall to the ground, but most come to rest in the catch basin.
One things that the researchers are having to take into consideration is whether or not there is public demand for stemless cherries - after all, if no one is going to buy the produce it doesn't matter how efficiently and cheaply it can be harvested.
"We are pretty convinced that at some point in the future, we are going to be mechanizing cherry harvest," Whiting said.
However, there is still a lot of work to still be done on the study, and it will be next year before more information becomes available.
Source: bellinghamherald.com
