A Planting Machine for Chrysanthemum Cuttings with a Supply Mechanism Using Rotating Cups

Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly
ISSN 00213551
NII recode ID (NCID) AA0068709X
Full text

The purpose of this study was to mechanize the task of planting chrysanthemum cuttings in plug trays. Seedling production using these trays is common in Japan to produce high-quality chrysanthemums, other flowers, and vegetables. However, chrysanthemum cuttings must be planted manually, which takes considerable time. Two models of planting machines suitable for chrysanthemum cuttings have been developed: a standard model for cuttings with no lower leaves, and a model that automatically removes the lower leaves. Both models are semi-automatic and employ a mechanism using rotating cups to facilitate a supply task of an operator and let two operators work side by side. In our laboratory and field experiments, the standard model had a failure rate of 0.5-3.1% and increased the maximum work efficiency to 2.4 times that of manual planting. The model that removed lower leaves had a failure rate of 0.8-4.5%, but also increased maximum work efficiency to 2.4 times that of manual planting. Although both models are influenced by individual supply variations from the workers, we believe they are ready for commercial use.

Date of issued
Creator HAYASHI Shigehiko OTA Tomohiko KUBOTA Kotaro KINOSHITA Eiichiro YAMAMOTO Kazuhiko
Subject

automation

lower-leaf removal

unsuccessful planting

work efficiency

Publisher Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences
Available Online
NII resource type vocabulary Journal Article
Volume 40
Issue 1
spage 71
epage 78
DOI 10.6090/jarq.40.71
Rights Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences
Language eng

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