Mechanical Harvester for Marigold Flowers |
| Marigolds for xanthophyll production are
primarily grown in Mexico, India, Peru, and Third World Countries and
imported into the United States for chemical processing. Xanthophyll is a
yellow-gold pigment found in marigold petals in high concentrations. These
pigments are used as an additive in poultry rations, dog food, and
multi-vitamins, and as a natural food colorant in dairy products. Other
countries are able to produce marigolds cheaper than the United States,
since the crop is primarily harvested by hand. In order for U. S. farmers
to economically produce marigolds, a relatively efficient harvester than
can harvest the flowers with limited plant damage is required so that
multiple crops can be harvested during a single season. Two different
mechanical header systems were developed and tested for harvesting
marigolds. One design uses extendable fingers mounted in a drum and the
other uses solid-mounted fingers to pluck the flowers from the plant. Both
headers were designed with rigid fingers to remove marigold flowers from
the plants without permanently damaging the plant. By limiting the plant
damage during harvesting, multiple crops were harvested from the same
plants during the same season. The extendable finger design produced a
slightly higher picking efficiency but the current design limited the
potential ground speed for the overall machine, as compared to the solid
mounted finger design. Additional work will focus on increasing the
overall efficiency of the solid mounted finger design. The overall
efficiency of this design is approximately 50 to 60 percent and can be
increased by modifications to the conveyance system. Mechanically
harvesting marigolds is essential in justifying the economics of bringing
this alternative crop to the U. S.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture |