MECHANISING OIL PALM LOOSE FRUITS COLLECTION - A REVIEW

The presence of oil palm loose fruits (LF) on the ground is one of the indicators that the fresh fruit bunch (FFB) is ready to be harvested. LF are also present when the bunch falls to the ground during the cutting operation, and these fruits need to be collected together to maximise the oil content during processing. Even after a century since this crop was first planted commercially in Malaysia, no major changes have been made in terms of how LF are being collected in the plantation. The collection is done manually by hand picking or by using a raking device and the LF are eventually placed into a bag or directly into a container or trailer. This activity involves frequent bending movement which causes backache to the worker. To minimise this problem and to increase the collection productivity, various tools and machines, from using a simple mechanical picking mechanism to vacuum-type collecting machines were developed. Recently, the focus was concentrated towards the unmanned collection concept. This article reviews most of the developing technologies related to mechanised oil palm LF collection and their technical limitations. Design, working system and cost considerations for the future development of LF collecting machine are also described.