Übersicht
Sections

project - EIP-AGRI Operational Group

CRITRUSTECH OPERATIONAL GROUP - Technological advances for modernization and sustainability in citrus production.

Discover website Contacts
To download the project in a PDF format, please click on the print button and save the page as PDF
Completed | 2020 - 2022 Spain
Completed | 2020 - 2022 Spain

Kontext

Necesidades globales a cubrir con el proyecto innovador: 
1.    Mejora de la rentabilidad económica de las explotaciones.
2.    Falta de relevo generacional e incorporación de la mujer al medio rural.
3.    Escasa sostenibilidad ambiental.

Objectives

The project provides a breakthrough in the modernization of citrus farms through the introduction of technologically advanced prototypes for the mechanized collection of citrus fruits, and their adaptation through manual and mechanized pruning. In addition, the use of agri-sustainable measures based on soil protection systems, the valorization of by-products and the rational use of phytosanitary products is encouraged. The contribution of this project focuses on the generation of new products, their dissemination and dissemination in the sector, as well as the training of farmers and technicians

Activities

The project carries out the development of collection systems for the fresh market, through collection assistance platforms, and for the industry market, through cup shaker systems and log vibrators. The activities will be carried out in commercial plantations with adaptation with manual and mechanized pruning. The use of green roofs, mulching and multifunctional margins will be established and evaluated. A guide will be made for the rational use of phytosanitary products, as well as the evolution of occupational risks and ergonomics of agricultural workers.

Additional comments

El proyecto plantea adaptar e implantar las innovaciones desarrolladas en proyectos de investigación previos realizados por los miembros solicitantes, de una forma, conjunta, global y coordinada en el sector, cubriendo las diferentes zonas citrícolas productoras de España.

Additional information

FULL MEMBERSHIP
MAIN PARTNERS: Cítricos del Andevalo SA, ANECOOP S.COOP, Universidad de Córdoba, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Fundación Cajamar Comunidad Valenciana
OTHER PARTNERS: Consultoria de Innovación y Financiación SL, Sunaran SAT, ADEA-ASAJA Murcia, Asociación Interprofesional de Limón y Pomelo, Asociación de Citricultores de la Provincia de Huelva, REVACITRUS SL

Project details
Main funding source
Rural development 2014-2020 for Operational Groups
Rural Development Programme
2014ES06RDNP001 España - Programa Nacional de Desarrollo Rural
Ort
Main geographical location
Huelva
Other geographical location
Murcia, Valencia / València

EUR 587 734.00

Total budget

Total contributions from EAFRD, national co-financing, additional national financing and other financing.

Project keyword

Ressourcen

12 Practice Abstracts

RD4. Dissemination activities through publications

Scientific and dissemination publications were published in specialised magazines, all available on the project's website, aimed at disseminating the opportunities arising from the project's good results among the sector's agents, and thus promoting their implementation in the business reality of the sector.

Additionally, in order to enhance the visibility of the project website, banners were programmed in specialised online magazines, such as FreshPlaza and Revista Mercados. Press releases were also written and published with information on the organisation of the project's workshops.

RD3. Virtual dissemination actions

To enhance the dissemination impact, content on the creation and maintenance of a website was presented, the content of the websites of all the participants was promoted and several informative and demonstrative videos of different sections of the project were edited, presenting the results achieved, facilitating the understanding of the technical details. All these videos were made available to the public on YouTube.

RD2. Face-to-face dissemination activities

Activities were carried out to present a webinar. Different representatives from various companies in the citrus sector, research centres, universities and the Administration itself met, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and members of the CITRUSTECH project.

In this informative event made up of several sessions, the progress made in the project was presented, all of which were key for the agricultural sector. Subsequently, satisfaction surveys were carried out with the attendees and the organisations or sectors to which they belonged were registered. 

Online workshops were also held on different days and sessions which, as a result of the pandemic situation, were converted into demonstration videos. The different sessions included the introduction and planting of more environmentally friendly cultivation techniques, covering aspects such as the sustainability of agriculture and the benefits of plant cover; mechanised pruning of citrus fruits, where the importance of adapting pruning to advance in the incorporation of new technologies in the application of phytosanitary products and harvesting; mechanised harvesting of citrus fruits, where technological advances related to harvesting by different means were explained; technological advances in the application of phytosanitary products for sustainable production.

RD1. Design of effective and efficient internal communication plan

In relation to dissemination activities, effective internal communication between the different parts of the project has been carried out for the coordination of events, which were attended by end-users.

Analysis of technical and social variability. Elaboration and passing of surveys for the study of the socio-economic aspects of citrus farms.

The objective consisted of evaluating data on socio-economic aspects of citrus farms, for which the corresponding surveys were drawn up for their collection. In addition, the costs of operations with the proposed machines were evaluated and information material was produced on the socio-economic situation of these farms and for the integration of women and young people.

In the first phase, the statistical data of the citrus farms were evaluated; in the second phase, surveys were carried out with citrus growers and technicians from large and small farms, from which the socio-economic characteristics and data on the level of technology were obtained.

Evaluation of occupational risks and ergonomic analysis of agricultural workers.

Manual agricultural labor in the citrus sector presents a risk to workers. The OWAS observational method was used for its evaluation, allowing the assessment of the physical load resulting from the postures adopted during work. The activities evaluated were related to the tasks of the pruner, the harvester, and the tractor driver. Pruning presented fewer ergonomic risks than harvesting. The introduction of mechanized pruning in the crop improved the ergonomics of the activity, but incorrect postures remained in the tractor, which should be addressed. In manual harvesting, the use of collecting bags was found to be advantageous over the use of baskets, particularly when unloading the fruit from the bottom of the bag, thus preventing the worker from lifting the weight of the fruit. The mechanized harvesting systems developed in the project reduced the likelihood of causing damage to the workers' musculoskeletal system by 6 to 17%. In worker training, the need to tailor the training to the profile and language of the participants was emphasized to facilitate understanding.

Rational use of phytosanitary products

The objectives of phytosanitary treatment are mainly to control pests while keeping risks for the operator to a minimum, low levels of residues in the fruit and the environment and a profitable economy.

By means of five videos to help with the calibration of equipment for a sustainable use of phytosanitary products, instruction is given on: the calculation of pressure loss in sprayers; the measurement of nozzle flow, also informing about the possibility of clogged nozzles; the calculation of the optimum forward speed of the machinery; the calculation of the adjustment of the spray cloud to the vegetation to optimise its use; the quality test of the spraying.

In addition, a video was included on the use of the CitrusVol tool, a computer tool for determining the optimum volume of spray liquid to be applied in phytosanitary treatments on adult citrus fruit carried out with an air-assisted hydraulic sprayer or turboatomiser. This tool based on scientific data will take into account the characteristics of the crop (geometric and foliar density, pests, product and application efficiency).

Processing of pruning waste, mulching, mulching and multifunctional margins.

The implementation of more environmentally friendly cultivation techniques was achieved: chopping of pruning waste, establishment of plant covers, mulching and multifunctional margins. The reduction of inputs consists of shredding pruning waste to produce a binary compost that is used as organic matter in horticultural crops, without the need for mineral nitrogen fertilisation, and was found to significantly improve the yield of the plots where it was used. The above techniques were shown to be more beneficial in terms of achieving a more sustainable farm, by protecting soils from adventitious species, providing nutrients or providing habitats that increase biodiversity.

Implementation of demonstration orchards with pruning and mechanized harvesting systems.

The use of machinery for citrus harvesting requires the adaptation of current plantations through pruning, either manual or mechanized. Eight demonstration orchards of pruning systems were established to be harvested by machines based on canopy shakers. Pruning the trees was essential for the machine's operation, as it was necessary for the fruit to be accessible to the machine's rods. The comparison between manual renewal pruning systems and mechanized tractor pruning (topping + hedging, low branches, and internal pruning) showed a 43% cost reduction. However, excessive mechanized pruning could lead to changes in the tree shape and, therefore, a different distribution of fruit in the tree's canopy, which could impact potential manual harvesting for the fresh market. For the adaptation and design of plantations for the use of harvesters with canopy shaker systems, it is recommended that service roads in the plantation have a minimum width of 10 meters, avoid areas with steep soil slopes, plant trees on flat ridges, and ensure that tree rows do not exceed 200 meters in length

 

Adaptation and demonstration of a canopy shaker system and a trunk and branch vibrator for citrus mechanized harvesting intended for industrial processing.

The harvesting machinery based on canopy shaker harvesters and trunk shakers showed very satisfactory results in citrus harvesting for industrial processing. Harvesters using canopy shaker systems achieved promising results, with high fruit detachment efficiency, able to collect more than 75% of the fruit from the tree, and high efficiency when combined with another machine in parallel. The damage to the fruit was moderate, with 85% of the fruit collected with minimal damage. The adaptation of trunk shakers to citrus harvesting required tree modifications to facilitate trunk vibration, the use of soft materials for gripping to prevent peeling, limiting vibration times to a maximum of 5 seconds, and reducing the vibration frequency to 10 Hz, roughly a third of the values currently used in olive harvesting. This regulation achieved the removal of 70% of ripe fruits, preventing the fall of unripe fruits and leaves and shoots. Harvesters based on canopy shakers were suitable for large plantations and large trees, while trunk shakers were more suitable for smaller plantations and medium-sized canopies. In both cases, the use of this machinery helps promote the dual purpose of current citrus plantations.

The working method and working capacity of a prototype high stroke, low frequency branch shaker was evaluated under field conditions, and the work performed by this improved prototype was compared with that of its predecessor, the log shaker. Damage to the fruit during the process and the form of detachment were assessed. The analysis took place on an experimental farm in Museros (Valencia). Tests were also carried out on ornamental orange trees, with very good results.

For the design of the prototype, laboratory tests were carried out and the results obtained were analysed in graphs of the percentage of fruit falling as a function of the millimetres of movement at different vibration frequencies.

During the field work, the number of main branches vibrated per tree, the percentage of fallen fruit in weight and number of fruit, the frequency parameters, among other factors, were measured. Working times were estimated, tree damage, fruit quality and fruit damage were analysed.

It was determined that the prototype obtained a higher percentage of lightly damaged fruit, a lower percentage of fruit falling than its predecessor, and it was understood that the differences in the percentage of fruit falling were related to the possibility of access to the main branches.

Development of production inspection technology in a platform for assisting in the harvesting of fruit for the fresh market.

Software was developed by creating a code with the aim of automating activities in the framework of the plantation, as well as assisting in the harvesting and selection of oranges. The effectiveness of this technology was tested in a plot in Llíria, Valencia, obtaining good results in the improvement of yield parameters.

Specifically, this software was installed in the harvesting machinery and allowed, by means of algorithms for estimating size, colour and defects according to quality standards, the identification of oranges according to their condition, as well as fruit of unmarketable size or with external damage, thus achieving self-sufficiency in the selection stage. As an added benefit, the quality of the workers was improved by avoiding excessive weight loads and increasing efficiency by saving workers the downtime of carrying the fruit to the transport. 

Thanks to this technology, transport and post-harvest times are avoided. This new software is capable of processing between 8 and 12 fruits/second, collecting 4 images/fruit, achieving a maximum production of 7.2 Tn/h. Some examples of extra advantages are the robustness against vibrations, the absence of dirt and the energy efficiency. 

Contacts

Project coordinator

  • CITRICOS DEL ANDEVALO SA

    Project coordinator

    MSANCHEZ@JGC.ES 914362291 CARRETERA DE LEPE , VILLANUEVA DE LOS CASTILLEJOS,21540, HUELVA, ANDALUCIA, ESPAÑA Other

Project partners

  • ANECOOP S. COOP

    Project partner

    nicolasjuste@anecoop.com 619058651 C/ MONFORTE 1-ENTLO, Valencia Other

  • FUNDACIÓN CAJAMAR COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA

    Project partner

    fundacioncajamarcomunidadvalenciana@cajamar.com 963 511 369 CAMINO DEL CEMENTERIO NUEVO S/N, PAIPORTA, Valencia Other

  • INSTITUTO VALENCIANO DE INVESTIGACIONES AGRARIAS

    Project partner

    director_ivia@gva.es 963 424 000 CV 315 - KM 10,7, Moncada, Valencia Research institute

  • UNIVERSIDAD DE CÓRDOBA

    Project partner

    investigacion@uco.es 957 218 000 AVDA MEDINA AZAHARA 5, VILLAFRANCA DE CORDOBA Research institute

  • UNIVERSIDAD POLITÉCNICA DE CARTAGENA

    Project partner

    vicinv@upct.es 868 098 289 EDIF. LA MILAGROSA, PLAZA DEL CRONISTA ISIDORO VALVERDE, CARTAGENA, MURCIA Research institute

  • UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA DE VALÈNCIA

    Project partner

    ayudaspublicas@sgi.upv.es 963877409 CAMINO DE VERA S/N, Valencia Research institute