Implementation of potato harvesting operations

Javid Kesht Leyzeri Co.Ltd (Mardani Trading)

In harvesting potatoes, it is important to pay attention to five points:

1- Harvest time:

The harvest time varies depending on the weather and the type of potato. Early varieties ripen in 70 to 80 days and late varieties in 5 to 6 months. Natural ripening is when:

1- The leaves of the plant must be completely dry.

2- The potato skin is hardened.

3- When cutting the tuber, the cutting surface should be dry.

4- The tubers are easily separated from the rhizome.

In early harvest, in addition to the quantity of the product being reduced, it is also difficult to store it. Therefore, it is better to wait a few days (15-10 days) after planting the plant and then start harvesting.

2- Speed of progress:

In order to clean more potatoes, it is necessary to apply a suitable progress speed. For this reason, the forward movement of the machine should be adjusted according to the recommendations of the machine manual and working conditions.

3-Soil moisture:

The moisture of the soil at the time of harvesting should be suitable, so that the glands are easily removed from the soil, the soil is not stuck to the glands, or the soil is easily separated from the glands during movement in the harvesting machine. The presence of dry soil and hard clumps during harvesting causes a lot of damage to the glands.

4- Peeling potatoes:

At the time of harvest, in order to prevent the transfer of white powder from the leaves to the tuber and also to prevent the blockage of the conveyor or vibrating net for better separation of potatoes from the soil, it is recommended that the aerial parts of the plant are harvested a few days before harvest and removed from the field. come out

The potato leafing device is a trailing device that is connected to the tractor with a three-point connection and gets its driving force from the PTO of the tractor through the gimbal.

Potato leaves

Arrangement of leaf blades

This device is used a few days before harvesting potatoes and is able to crush all the parts of the potato plant that are outside the soil (the green parts of the plant) and return them to the soil.

Removing the stem and leaves of the potato plant a few days before harvesting, along with facilitating the harvesting operation, strengthens the potato skin and makes the product resistant to the blows caused by harvesting.

This machine consists of a rotating shaft on which hammer-like blades are suspended. As a result of the rotation of the axis, the blades hit the bush with hammer blows and, while cutting, throw them back (the cover of the device). After hitting the back cover of the device, the bushes are left on the ground to rot.

The rotation speed of the blades of this device is 1350 rpm, which is designed only to hit the leaves and stems, and any impact of the blades to the soil or stones and lumps will cause the blade to break and the device to be ineffective.

In some areas, chemical poisons such as diquat or paraquat (with the brand name Gramaxon) are used to destroy the leaves and stems of the plant, which are not recommended from an environmental point of view.

5- Warehousing:

After coming out, the tubers should stay in the open air on the surface of the ground for a few hours so that the moisture on their skin evaporates and their storage period increases. This time may reach one day depending on the humidity of the air and soil.

Steps of harvesting potatoes

1- Place the potato planter connected to the tractor at the beginning of the row so that the wheels of the tractor are on both sides of the row.

2- Adjust the settings of the potato masher.

3- Put the power axis of the tractor in the round engine position.

4- Choose the right gear. Depending on the yield of the potato and the ground conditions, the forward speed when harvesting potatoes is usually between 3 and 6 km/h.

5- Use the hand throttle to keep the speed constant and move (specific speed of the tractor) along the length of the cultivated row.

6- After walking a few meters from the tractor, check how the harvest was done in terms of removing all the potatoes, not cutting them and not burying them, and if necessary, change the settings of the machine.

7-Continue harvesting the field in the above order.

Harvesting potatoes with a potato conveyor