(Nomination for 2013 AUREA Award): BSK - Machine for harvesting berry fruits using air

Obrenovac-based BSK has developed a device for harvesting berry-like fruits using air, KOKAN 500 S, which is intended for picking raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and currants on plantations and replaces 60 workers a day. This harvester, based on a unique, innovative technology involving the use of air for picking fruits, imitates a storm to strike fruit-bearing branches of the plants with air batches traveling at a controlled speed, thus picking only ripe fruits without causing damage to them, and all this in a natural manner involving no physical contact with the plants.

It is a unique harvesting technology that has no precedent anywhere in the world. The technology has been actively developed since 2002, with its efficiency confirmed in raspberry, blackberry and blueberry harvests on plantations across Serbia as well as abroad, on raspberry plantations in Chile, in the vicinity of Santiago. During 2012, BSK obtained funds from the World Bank to build a prototype for serial production and filed a request for patenting the air generator that each of the future mass-produced harvester should feature.

The target group for this device includes all primary agricultural manufacturers of berry-like fruits (raspberry, blackberry, currant, blueberry) whose plantations cover an area of 2.5 hectares and more. This harvester has a daily capacity of 5 hectares and is also suitable for use on plantations where the distance between rows is small and the inclination of the terrain is high, where the use of larger harvesters built by foreign manufacturers is practically impossible.

Analysis and practice have pointed to the undoubted advantages of harvesting using air over mechanical harvesters and hand picking that are both insufficiently efficient and expensive. Primary advantages are as follows: increased productivity (replacing 60 human pickers a day), compliance with food quality standards (HACCP, EUROGAP), higher yields (in kg), time savings and reduced engagement of plantation owners, as well as profit boost thanks to cost reduction.

In Serbia as well as all around the world, berry-like fruits are mainly picked by hand, which increases the costs of manpower and makes it impossible to quickly harvest fruits. In addition, raspberry picking requires a large number of workers, and manufacturers have difficulties to provide workforce. The lack of manpower and the need to ensure adequate conditions for a large number of workers are some of the main problems related to raspberry harvests, hindering the expansion of raspberry plantations. A more reliable and more efficient harvesting using air eliminates the costs of hand picking from the final price, boosts efficiency and productivity and facilitates the expansion of plantations.

KOKAN 500S replaces 60 workers a day, and the analysis performed by BSK has shown that manufacturers would increase the surface area of their plantations by minimum 50 percent if they solved the problem of the lack of workforce and harvesting costs.

This harvester is priced at EUR 45,000, with the investment return period for end-users being less than two years.

INNOVATION

KOKAN 500S is a berry-like fruit harvester using air to pick raspberries, blackberries, currants and blueberries on plantations. It is driven by a 40kW+ tractor.

KOKAN 500S utilizes a unique, innovative technology of harvesting using air, which has no precedent anywhere in the world. This harvester uses the power of air currents to pluck the fruit, clean it of dry leaves and branches and place it in a fruit crate.

It consists of four functional parts: air tunnel, handling system and conveyor belts, turbines generating air currents, and hydraulic pumps driving ventilators and conveyor belts.

The П-shaped air tunnel is used to pluck ripe fruits off the plant. It features 4-6 holes for air on both sides, through which air batches are released at a speed of up to 150 km/h. The handling system and conveyor belts are located on both sides in the lower part of the air tunnel, and they are used to handle plucked fruits and transport them to fruit crates. The blowpipes below the conveyor belts are used to clean plucked fruits of dry leaves and branches.

KOKAN 500S has a daily capacity of 5 hectares and is also suitable for use on plantations where the distance between rows is small and the inclination of the terrain is high, where the use of larger harvesters built by foreign manufacturers is practically impossible.

Comparative advantages of harvesting using air over hand picking

- Replacing 60 human pickers a day - KOKAN 500S has a daily harvesting capacity of 5 hectares. If it takes 12 pickers on average to harvest a hectare of plantation, then it takes 60 human pickers to harvest five hectares. The problem of the lack of manpower is solved in this way.

- Meeting food quality standards (HACCP standard) – Compliance with the international food quality standard (HACCP standard) is ensured with contactless harvesting, which does not allow for the fruit to be contaminated (polluted). When this standard is met, the price of final products in the market grows bigger.

- Increasing yields in kilograms – When fruits are picked by hand, it is often the case that even the fruits that are not ripe enough are picked. KOKAN Harvester makes it possible to pick only technologically ripe berry-like fruits, which leads to an increase in the weight of yields by up 10 percent when compared to hand picking.

- Preventing the appearance and development of diseases – By intensively hitting plants with air batches, KOKAN 500S eliminates plant parasits and excessive moisture, which are the most usual causes of plant diseases. This leads to plants being healthier and fruit yields bigger.

- Increasing profits by reducing costs - KOKAN 500S cuts harvesting costs, which ensures higher profits for manufacturers and makes them more competitive in the market.

Comparative advantages of harvesting using air over mechanical picking

Mechanical harvesters for berry-like fruits, which are in use worldwide, are based on a technology of mechanical beating using plastic sticks. When mechanical harvesters are used, it may happen that both plants and fruits be damaged. Such harvesters are expensive, insufficiently efficient and, on the top of all that, they can significantly damage plants and fruits.

On the other hand, KOKAN 500S shakes plants and cleans fruits without physical contact, which secures numerous advantages:

- Harvesting using air does not damage either fruits or plants – Undamaged fruits are sold on the consumer market, thus achieving a much higher purchase price than damaged fruits on the manufacturing market.

- Undamaged canes and branches of plants guarantee that the yield will remain at the expected level in the following harvesting seasons (Mechanical harvesting using plastic sticks leads to plants drying up and yields dropping drastically.)

- KOKAN 500S can also be used on plantations where the distance between rows is small and the inclination of the terrain is high, where the use of larger harvesters built by foreign manufacturers is practically impossible

- KOKAN 500S is priced lower than competitive mechanical harvesters thanks to lower costs of production

- Competitive harvesters, especially those from the US market, are exclusively designed to serve the purpose of picking only one of the berry-like fruits, while Kokan 500S is capable of harvesting more kinds of berry fruits: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and currants

SOCIAL UTILITY

The use of harvesters improves the technology of agricultural machines in the field of berry fruit harvesting and makes a substantial contribution to cost reduction when production takes place on large areas of land.

In Serbia as well as all around the world, berry-like fruits are today mainly picked by hand, which increases the costs of manpower and makes it impossible to quickly harvest fruits. In addition, harvesting of berry fruits on vast areas requires a large number of workers, for which manufacturers have to provide adequate living and working conditions during the harvest, which makes the costs of hand picking an important item in the costs of production. In addition, manufacturers have difficulties to provide sufficient work force, and the lack of manpower also affects the volume of production.

KOKAN 500S has a daily harvesting capacity of 5 hectares planted with berry fruits. If it takes 12 pickers on average to harvest a hectare of plantation, then it takes 60 human pickers to harvest five hectares. Therefore, KOKAN 500S replaces 60 human pickers a day.

BSK has conducted a poll among its prospective clients. When asked how much they would expand their plantations if they found a solution to the problems of manpower and raspberry picking, all those interviewed replied that they would expand their plantations by minimum 50 percent.

By reducing the costs of harvesting, KOKAN 500S ensures higher profits for manufacturers and makes their fruits more competitive in the market.

Indirect users of the result of this innovation project are all suppliers. Almost all equipment and parts used in the production of this harvester are made in Serbia (up to 85 percent), and the entire production process takes place within the domestic company BSK d.o.o. Obrenovac.

FINANCIAL POTENTIAL

The target group for this device includes all primary agricultural manufacturers of berry-like fruits (raspberry, blackberry, currant, blueberry) whose plantations cover an area of 2.5 hectares and more, as well as secondary manufacturers with their own plantations.

This harvester is priced at EUR 45,000, and people at the BSK company have calculated that the investment return period for the end-users who have 2.5 hectares of plantations is less than two years, mainly owing to the reduced costs of harvesting (harvester daily replaces 60 human pickers whose per diem amounts to about EUR 20).

KOKAN 500S has been tested on plantations in Arilje, Brus, Duvaniste and Majur (the Sabac municipality), Djurdjevo (Vojvodina) as well as abroad, on raspberry plantations in Chile, in the vicinity of Santiago. KOKAN 500S has already attracted the interest of manufacturers in Serbia, Poland, Argentine and Great Britain, with an order for 2 harvesters already been placed by a client from Croatia.

The aim of the company is to sell at least one harvester in each region, in Serbia for a start, because agricultural manufacturers are conservative consumers and accept novelties only if they are already used by someone else. Therefore, they are willing to encourage manufacturers to buy a harvester on credit or lease.

With the commercialization of this harvester on the Serbian market as well as foreign markets, BSK can expect substantial foreign currency revenues. After a successful product marketing in the global market, there are real chances for a foreign investment in production expansion to take place.

Obrenovac-based BSK is currently capable of producing 12 harvesters a year, and the company is now in the process of providing a land lot and a production facility where it could begin the mass production of these harvesters in 2015.

If the harvester made by the BSK company is your favorite for the investment of the year, you can vote for this candidate at the official website - Aurea.