Cherry Research Part 2

Cherry Research Part 2

Cherry Research Part 2. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. A USDA research grant is being put to good use at the WSU Prosser – IAREC facility. Sweet cherries are being looked at and how they can be manipulated to help offset labor according to Tracie Arnold, Project Coordinator/Communications Specialist. ARNOLD: It's something called abscission and it's the point where the stem loosens from the cherry and they are looking at different genetics and different ways to come up with new varieties of cherries that can be more easily released from their stem. There are some new prototype harvesters that would benefit from a cherry that would easily release or drop off the tree. ARNOLD: The end result in that is that it removes the stem from the cherry so they're trying to come up with different cultivars and also research different cultivars and find out which ones release more easily from their stem. By that happening the mechanical harvesters can do the job more quickly and more efficiently with less labor to have to deal with making it more profitable and safer. ARNOLD: They have three different types of harvesters they're going to test. One's a fully mechanical harvest and there's already a prototype machine from the USDA. They also are going to take a look at a hand held like shake and catch system that's similar to what's used in olive harvest and they're also going to take a look at a mechanical assist type of harvest where they'll use a vacuum tube to transport the fruit from a pickers hand to a collection bin. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
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