Efficient Harvesting of Japanese Blue Honeysuckle

Japanese blue honeysuckle (haskap) is the earliest fresh fruit harvested in Hokkaido starting in late June. In Japan's small-scale orchards, farmers carefully harvest haskap berries by hand so as to avoid losing any juice from the delicate peel. To improve harvesting efficiency with minimal additional cost, we developed new methods employed either plastic pipe or jigsaw for separating the fruit, converted umbrella, plastic net or light pipe with tarp for collecting, and used electric fan or mesh net with water for cleaning. After testing various combinations of separating, collecting and cleaning methods, the harvesting rate was increased from 1.45 kg/h (conventional hand picking) to a maximum 10.36 kg/h. Therefore, it is possible to improve haskap harvesting efficiency at low cost.