Continuous and Impact Cutting in Mechanized Sugarcane Harvest: Quality, Losses and Impurities

Autor: João Vitor Paulo Testa, Murilo Battistuzzi Martins, Aldir Carpes Marques Filho, Kléber Pereira Lanças, Renato Lustosa Sobrinho, Taciane Finatto, Mohammad K. Okla, Hamada AbdElgawad
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Agriculture, Vol 13, Iss 7, p 1329 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2077-0472
DOI: 10.3390/agriculture13071329
Popis: Sugarcane harvesting requires improvements, particularly in cutting tools. Continuous cutting saws have been introduced as a solution to this issue. This study evaluates the performance of two basal sugarcane cutting systems in different fields: a traditional impact cut system (ICS) with knives and a continuous cut system (CCS) with saw blades. Tests were conducted during two crop cycles in three areas, using a 3 × 2 factorial design with two cutting devices and four replications per treatment. Cut quality indices and ratoon damage were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Raw material losses were subjected to the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, ANOVA, and Tukey’s test at 5% probability. Significant differences in cutting quality were found across different areas. The total crop productivity influenced sugarcane cut quality, with the CCS showing (0.8 Mg ha−1) visible losses in higher productivity areas, which is a 74% increase compared to the ICS. In lower productivity areas, the CCS demonstrated better loss performance (0.8 Mg ha−1). Additionally, the stumps damage rate for the CCS was lower than that for the ICS (0.15 and 0.28, respectively), indicating that saws can preserve cane fields and enhance longevity.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals