Abstract

Conveyor belt cropping is a cropping principal that is characterized by the plants being placed in one end of the cropping area and then transported along it throughout their development. When they reach the end of the cropping area, they are fully grown and ready for harvesting. Along the cropping area there are areas where work with the plants is done. There are several advantages in using such a system. The work environment is better because the climate can be adjusted to the wishes of the people in the work areas and because individual aids can be installed. The labour requirement is reduced because work that was done earlier is no longer required and work efficiency increases thanks to the improved climate. The utilization of the cropping area increases when movable tables are installed instead of rolling tables and because there are possibilities to space plants gradually. Since the movable cropping areas with plants is one single unit, the need of transport in the firm is reduced. Some transport inputs can be omitted. The work organization is simplified because there are fewer plants in the same size category and since the batches are more numerous. This enables the usual working peaks, for instance at harvest, to be avoided. A continuous production is achieved which makes the grower less sensitive to temporary price changes in the plants grown and decreases the losses when the crop is changed. The biological advantages are that the cropping area can be split in different climates and that the climate can be adjusted to the stage of plant development. There are some requirements for conveyor belt cropping: - Uniformity in the development of plants. - The harvest time must be quite short. - Cropping areas must be movable and there must be transport equipment to move the areas. To get uniformity in development and a short harvest time the cropping must be close to the biological optimum. Therefore only one kind of plant should be present on the cropping area at the same time. This is because few crops have the same demands on environment. The plants must be genetically defined and free from diseases. During the winter the cropping will be run with inputs of carbon dioxide and illumination. Conveyor belt cropping is especially suited to crops which react uniformly to management inputs, for example in order to initiate flowering. Chrysanthemum belongs to these. Other suitable crops for conveyor belt cropping are plants with only vegetative development, for example lettuce and Hedera. To optimize the use of the cropping area a production plan ought to be prepared which considers the variation in cropping time during the year.Because the plants are moved during the cropping and the cropping time varies with radiation, the empty space after harvest can not always be filled up. A model capable of optimization will calculate how many plants are needed in the cropping area for maximum utilization. Crops with short harvest time and with slight variation in cropping time during the year are the ones best suited to conveyor belt cropping. The report ends with a description of the cropping, equipment and production planning at some growers. When better models of cropping and development are available, the possibilities to controll the crops will increase and more kinds of plants will become suitable for conveyor belt cropping. There are also good opportunities to automate the cropping system to reduce human labour inputs.

Keywords

växthus; linjeproduktion; kontinuerlig produktion; optimering; planeringsmodell; intern transport; flyttbara odlingsytor

Published in

Rapport - Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för lantbruksteknik
1988,
ISBN: 91-576-3338-X
Publisher: Institutionen för lantbruksteknik, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/125637