Mechanized Potato Harvest

Summary

Because they are adaptable to local planting conditions and affordable for smallholder farmers, potato harvesters developed by local private enterprises can mechanize potato harvests in developing countries with limited technology and financial resources. Cooperation among private companies, research institutes, the government and agricultural cooperatives also enables famers to mechanize their potato harvests through subsidies, training and flexible lending programs.

Challenge/Problem

Potatoes are an adaptable crop that can tolerate cold, drought and barren soil. China is the largest potato producer worldwide in terms of either volume or area. Supporting potato production is an important factor in eliminating hunger and achieving sustainable development as they can grow naturally in drought and semi-drought regions but also improve the soil and reduce water loss and soil erosion. In recent years, the potato industry in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America has developed rapidly. However, potatoes are more labour-intensive than other crops are, with the harvest accounting for more than half of the total labour. Mechanizing potato harvests can greatly improve labour productivity and resource utilization.

Most potato-harvesting machines are large, automated, high-powered tractors suitable for large-scale planting. They are expensive, require a lot of power and are difficult to operate. Additionally, in many developing countries, these machines need to be imported. Because of the limited incomes of smallholder farmers, the lack of power in rural areas, diverse planting areas and varied geographical conditions, large harvesters cannot effectively meet local needs.

Solution

Nearly half of potatoes planted in China are early-maturing potatoes. Therefore, segmenting harvests and decreasing damage and breakage are priorities in mechanization efforts, as segmenting harvest allows to extend harvesting time. Potato harvester research and development in China mainly focuses on small and medium-sized diggers, but there are also a few large diggers and a basic combine harvester.

Qingdao Hongzhu Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. is one of the major potato machinery manufacturers in China and develops a variety of potato harvesters. Although their small traction potato harvester can only carry out basic digging and separation work, its simple frame means it can be pulled by the low-power tractors currently owned by most farmers. It is also suitable for hilly potato-growing areas, such as Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing. The medium and large traction harvesters can complete seedling removal, excavation, separation, lifting and paving with a low rate of breakage and high rate of potato exposure. These machines raise harvest efficiency with two harvesting lines and are suitable for large-scale planting. The combine harvester merges three separate harvesting operations -reaping, threshing, and winnowing -into a single process, which greatly reduces manual labour. Moreover, it can work in different conditions such as sandy and heavy soil, with a low damage rate and high level of separation.

Through cooperation with universities and other research institutions, Hongzhu has developed several potato harvesters that meet local needs. Its products are sold all over the country and exported to Russia, the United States, Canada, Africa, Southeast Asia, and other countries and regions. The prices of the potato harvesters range from 8,000 to 30,000 yuan. Government subsidies enable smallholder farmers to afford agricultural machinery, discounting each machine purchase by 1,000 to 25,000 yuan. Agricultural cooperatives can also assist farmers by organizing lending programs among farmers and providing operation trainings with Hongzhu.

Results

Hongzhu products, including potato planters, tillers and harvesters, enable nearly 100 million potato growers in China to mechanize their potato harvests. They have improved the average production efficiency of main crops by more than 10 per cent, saved a total of 4.16 billion yuan in labour costs and increased farmers' income by 9.5 billion yuan. Their products are being used on 28 million acres of land.

Since 2017, Hongzhu has enabled more than 50 rural agricultural cooperatives across the country to reduce manual labour through mechanization and trained more than 600 agricultural machinery operators and maintenance personnel. The company also runs a mechanization demonstration base that has helped popularize various kinds of agricultural machines and devices.

Hongzhu has invested more than 20 million yuan into technological innovation, completing two national studies on potato harvest devices and four provincial research programs and obtaining more than 80 patents. As a result of the company’s research, smallholder farmers can reduce their labour costs by 43 yuan and save 2.1 litres of fuel.

Lessons Learned/Potential for replication

Cooperation between private enterprises and research institutions can promote better linkages between agricultural machinery and agronomy. Scientific research and innovation can lead to transformative technologies that meet real needs.

The construction of demonstration bases and the cooperation of enterprises and rural cooperatives have facilitated professional trainings, as well as the purchase and sharing of agricultural machines among smallholder farmers.

Consolidating scattered land is conducive to mechanization. For some special terrain, such as mountainous areas, machines need to be developed that adapt to local conditions.

Policy support is essential for agricultural mechanization. Policies such as subsidies and low-interest loans for purchasing agricultural machinery will make machines available for smallholder farmers with limited incomes. Furthermore, budget allocations can direct and promote related agricultural research.

Next Steps

Further research and technical improvement should be carried out for diverse planting conditions, especially for the mountainous areas and heavy soil in southern China, to improve the balance of mechanization among regions.

Further land integration or agricultural cooperatives are needed to solve the problem of land fragmentation and small-scale planting, which would allow for greater mechanization.

Increasing agricultural machinery subsidies and arranging machine demonstrations could further popularize the technology.

Organizing regular trainings to teach farmers how to use the machinery and improving after-sales service (such as by increasing maintenance service centres) could raise the efficiency of machine use.