A review of mechanised cane harvesting systems in southern Africa

Manual harvesting has predominated in the South African sugar industry since 1948, when sugarcane was first cropped at Compensation on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal. However, as successive generations of labour have attained higher levels of education and their living standards have improved, employment aspirations have risen above the strenous but monotonous hand cutting of sugarcane, and this is now less favoured as a means of earning a living. Over the years there has been a continual quest for a reliable and economically viable mechanised harvesting system which could be successfully implemented under local conditions. This paper summarises the evaluation and development of harvesting equipment over the past two decades by the Agricultural Engineering Department of the South African Sugar Association Experiment Station (SASEX). An assessment of the operating costs of various mechanised harvesting systems relative to manual harvesting methods is also given.