| Chinese dwarf cherry [Cerasus humilis (Bge.) Sok.], a small deciduous shrub originated in the North of China, is characterized by its high level of resistance to drought and cold, the ability to tolerate barren soils which has both economic and ecological benefits. With the expansion of its cultivated area, large-scale and efficient production are the directions of the industrial development of Chinese dwarf cherry. Using machinery to replace the traditional human labor can greatly reduce the fruit of labor intensity and improve the production efficiency by completing all parts of the industry chain of Chinese dwarf cherry. At present, the orchard mechanization degree in China is relatively low and a lot of labor cost is needed from nursery to post-harvest process of Chinese dwarf cherry, in addition, the popularizing rate of special machineries for Chinese dwarf cherry is quite low. Hence, it has great significance to do research on the mechanical equipment of Chinese dwarf cherry.In this paper,17 machines developed by companies or universities for the industrial development of Chinese dwarf cherry were used as objects to study the structure, operation, efficiency and quality of work of these machines which is divided into five categories:nursery machine, planting machine, gardening machine, harvesting machine and fruit processing machine. The data were recorded and statistically analyzed by which the performance and the potentials of all 17 machineries were evaluated and improvement suggestions were made at the same time. The main results are as follows:1.The nursery machines are used quite frequently in the seedling production of Chinese dwarf cherry. The process of seedling production is basically mechanized except the machine for cutting. The use of nursery machines standardized matrix production of the seedbed, improved the neat degree of the seedbed surface, improve the quality of the seedling lifting, greatly reduced the labor costs and improve the efficiency of the seedling production.2.The efficiency and survival rate of seedling after transplanting were improved by using dedicated machines, further more, plant distance, row spacing are standard after planting. However, equipment maintenance and adjustment are of high frequency, therefore the stability of the machines still need to be improved.3.The management of Chinese dwarf cherry orchard only needs a few machine. A proper lawn mower, can not only cut the weed, but also be used for stumping. Multi-purpose was realized but we are lack of high-gap tractors and other operating machinery matching with the agricultural operation in Chinese dwarf cherry orchard.4.The harvesting machine for Chinese dwarf cherry can only realize removing fruits from branches sheared by hand at present, and also only stays in the experimental stage. It can improve the production efficiency of harvesting fruit, still large harvesting machines need to be researched and developed for the field production.5.Both the juicer and the stone-removing machine can realized the separation of the pulp and the stone. The pulp processed by the juicer can be further processed into fruit juice, while the pulp processed by the stone-removing machine is unfavorable to use due to its iron parts.Despite many machines were used in Chinese dwarf cherry industry, more machines are needed in the seedling cuttings and fruit harvesting to further reduce the labor costs and to improve production efficiency. Machines need to be developed matching for the agricultural operation requirements in order to improve their mechanical integrity, stability, and working efficiency. |
