History of Citrus Mechanical Harvesting
General Overview:
The beginnings of citrus mechanical harvesting dates back to the 1950’s. The idea of a mechanized harvesting system was developed from the struggle the citrus industry was facing due to the lack of harvesting labor availability. This has been an ongoing problem that is still present. The systems that were developed early on were interesting in that they used several methods of removing the fruit unconventionally. For example, blasting water or air into the tree knocking the fruit off the stems. If you are interested in reading more about the development of mechanical harvesters and the equipment and methods that have been designed to be used with them, please click on the sections below.