JOURNAL OF THE SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF FINLAND 321 Maataloustieteellinen Aikakauskirja Voi. SJJ2I-J27, 1981 Labour consumption in blackcurrant production MARITTA YLÄRANTA and VILJO RYYNÄNEN Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Helsinki, SF-00710 Helsinki 71 Abstract. Twenty-nine blackcurrant growers participated in the study, which took place between 1977 1980. The purpose of the study was to establish how much time was spent in preparing the fallow ground, planting, cultivating and harvesting blackcurrants. The total area of blackcurrant cultivation included in the study was 1 36,7 ha. The work involved in establishing an area of one hectare for blackcurrant cultivation took 147,0 man hours using methods which were only slightly mechanized and 98,5 man hours using more mechanized methods. The corresponding tractor hours were 37,0 and 38,0. In the normal fruit-bearing years (following the third growth period) cultivating tasks took 1 58,5 man hours and 9,5 tractor hours using slightly mechanized methods. With more mechanized methods, the labour consumption was 95,0 man hours and 24,0 tractor hours per hectare. Harvesting with a mechanical harvester took 37,5 man hours, 6,0 harvester hours and 8,0 tractor hours per hectare. The corresponding average yield was 3 300 kg/ha. An average of 4 000 kg/ha were harvested by baton, accounting for 400,0 man hours and 6,0 tractor hours per hectare. The bushes were hand- picked after mechanical harvesting. 800 kg/ha were picked in 210,5 hours. Introduction The purpose of the 1977—1980 study was to establish the amount of working time consumed in the various stages of blackcurrant production, viz. in the planting summer, the summer after planting, first fruiting year and fruiting years. The different cultivation and harvesting methods were treated separately. Material and methods Of the total of 29 growers participating in the study, the number taking part each year varied from 7 to 21. Correspondingly the total area of blackcurrant cultivation was 1 36,7 ha, while the area studied in an indivudual year varied from 27,8 ha to 50,2 ha. The area per farm varied from 0,2 ha to 14,0 ha and the average area per farm was 3,0 ha. Besides growing blackcurrant, most of the farmers were engaged in traditional farming and forestry or they had other work outside the farm. The farms were situated in south-west, east and central Finland. The variety Ojcbyn was the most commonly cultivated, but Roodknop and Brodtorp were also grown to a lesser extent. https://www.c-info.fi/en/info/?token=NGF_YWnoSmArbOp9.lBSyxsduFb3E71iWIEPvXw.CexOTYEis_uIZBV_oeC-ZEugJZ2wRV5XD6ZqN-YEe6DMs0YurYNkN8i1Y6fhAdSiz_6N5i2M0rvz4P9jZm_YWTJkPcvrk7wpNLlbEmLJ3VVe1UgJR5i9yrRmhSL2hHOdcZwH7UZaif46i5O5P4nbv_HHaLTHVGaCC3BtIVfvdXaopCwyXfgIESR1E4Dp5Q6eu8D8gY3MHLfAiAc 322 The study method was the same as that in the study on the consumption of working time in strawberry cultivation. This method was reviewed in the publication YLÄRANTA and RYYNÄNEN (1981). Total labour and its distribution 1) The fallow period and the planting Though it is recommended that the ground lie fallow for a period of two years before planting, in practice this period is often no more than one year. The bushes are planted in the autumn, at the end of September or the beginning of October. The labour consumption during this fallow period and the planting summer is broken down in Table 1. The planting machine used was either a forest planter or a planting machine constructed specially for garden plants. Table 1. Labour consumption (h/ha) in establishing a blackcurrant cultivation. Task Man hours Tractor hours Ground preparation 31,0 22,5 Fertilizing 10,0 5,5 Planting: A. Tractor-drawn plough+shovel 86,0 9,0 B. Tractor-drawn planting machine 37,5 10,0 Diverse 20,0 - Total: A. 147,0 37,0 B. 98,5 38,0 In method A the bushes were planted in furrows ploughed by a tractor drawn plough. They were planted in intervals of 0,5—0,9 m and the rows were 3,5—4,0 m apart. The average number of plants per hectare was 4 000. The average labour output using planting method A was 47 plant per hour and 107 plant per hour using method B. 2) The summer following planting Seven farms had one-year old cultivations covering a total area of 1 5,3 ha. Table 2 presents the average amount of labour involved in the various tasks. Most of the labour involved went to weed control (42 %). As frost has raised the plants during the winter, they had to be banked up with top soil in the spring. This was done using a tractor-drawn board and a shovel. There was little need for pruning at this phase of grouth. Diverse work included frost protection. The average yield was only 200 kg/ha. 3) The first fruiting year The two-year-old cultivations were classified in a group of their own, as the yield and the need for pruning differ greatly from those of later years. The labour 323 Table 2. Labour consumption (h/ha) in blackcurrant cultivation during the summer following planting. Task Man hours Tractor hours 1. Cultivation Fertilizing 5,0 2,5 Pruning 6,5 Disease and vermin control 3,0 2,0 Weed control 35,0 3,5 Banking up the plants 16,0 6,0 Diverse 18,0 2,0 Total 83,5 16,0 2. Harvesting 56,0 Yield 200 kg/ha consumption in cultivation and harvesting tasks are presented in Table 3. Pruning, disease and vermin control and weed control each accounted for 21 %of the total labour consumption. Two harvesting methods were used. The most common method with cultivations of this age (3 years) is the baton-picking. Batons consist of 40—50 cm long pieces of rubber or plastic tubing. The branches are struck with a baton and the berries drop off into a large fibre-glass vessel. Hand picking was applied only in those bushes in which the yield was very low. Table 3. Labour consumption (h/ha) and yield in the first fruiting year of blackcurrant cultivation. Task Man hours Tractor hours 1. Cultivation Fertilizing 3,5 0,5 Irrigation 6,5 0,5 Pruning 18,0 1,5 Disease and vermin control 7,5 6,0 Weed control 18,0 3,0 Diverse 18,0 0,5 Control 16,0 Total 2. Harvesting Man Tractor Yield h/ha h/ 1000kg h/ha harvested kg/ha A. Hand picking 218,0 242,2 1,0 900 B. Baton picking 1 210,0 116,5 2,0 1800 Diverse 11,5 Total harvesting h/ha Method A. 229,5 1,0 -"- B. 221,5 2$ 1 Including cleaning the berries. 324 4) Fruiting years Labour consumption in cultivating full-grown blackcurrant bushes is presented in Table 4. The bushes are at least four years old. All the cultivations were planted in rows sufficiently far apart to allow mechanical harvesting. Methods of fertilizing, pruning, disease, vermin and weed control and harvesting varied from farm to farm. These tasks could be classified as slightly mechanized, on small farms (A) and as highly mechanized on large farms (B). Fertilizing was done by hand (A) or by spreader (B). Pruning was done using short and long-handled shears (A) or using shears and a mechanical trimmer (B). The most commonly used mechanical trimmer was the Finnish Joonas’. Labour consumption in pruning includes breaking up the trimmings or collecting them, taking them away and burning. Disease and vermin control was done by knapsack motor sprayer (A) or by tractor sprayer (B). Knapsack sprayer (A) or tractor and knapsack sprayers (B) were used in weed control. On farms cultivating small areas blackcurrants (less than a hectare) baton picking was applied in harvesting; on the large farms harvester and baton. The method used also depended on the amount of berries on the bushes. Two types of harvesters English Pattenden Straddle Harvester or Finnish Joonas Harvester were used. Picking by baton required 4—6 pickers per hectare. The pickers worked in pairs. The labour output (kg/man/hour) was 88 kg/h with a harvester, 10 kg/h with batons and 4 kg/h by hand. Table 4. Labour consumption (h/ha) and yield (kg/ha) in blackcurrant cultivation during fruiting years. Task Method A Method B Man Tractor Man Tractor hours hours hours hours 1. Cultivation Fertilizing 9.0 - 6.0 2.5 Irrigation 11.0 4.0 11.0 4.0 Pruning 65.0 4.0 30.0 6.5 Disease and vermin control 31.0 8.5 6.0 Weed control 17.5 - 14.5 3.5 Diverse 13.0 1.5 13.0 1.5 Control - - Total 158.5 9.5 95.0 24.0 2. Harvesting Man Tractor Harvester Yield h/ha h/1000 kg h/ha h/ha kg/ha A. Baton 1 400.0 100.0 6.0 4 000 B. Harvester 37.5 11.5 8.0 6.0 3 300 (Hand picking2 ) (210.5) (263.1) (1.0) (-) (800) Supervision 16.5 Diverse 8.0 Total A. 424.5 6.0 13. 62_0 B_o 6J) 1 Including cleaning the berries. 2 After mechanical harvesting. 325 5) The distribution of working time per week The distribution of working time per week is described in Figure 1. The diagram above illustrates the distribution of fallow tasks per week. The bushes had been planted mechanically in week 40. The second diagram illustrates the first fruiting years. Baton and hand picking were the harvesting methods applied at this phase of cultivation. The two last diagrams show the normal fruiting years. In the first case the blackcurrants were harvested mechanically and in the second using batons and by hand. Discussion Not many studies have been made of the labour consumption in blackcurrant cultivation. KRÄKEVIK (1973) has reported on Norwegian studies. According to his study labour consumption was greater than that in the results presented here Fig. 1. The distribution of labour (h/ha) in blackcurrant production: planting (above), during the first fruiting year (second) and during normal fruiting years, by mechanical harvester (third) and by baton (below). 326 Table 5. Consumption of man hours per hectare and yield (kg/ha) in blackcurrant cultivation according to Norwegian and Finnish studies. Phase of cultivation KRÄKEVIK Present 1973 study Establishment ofcultivation: 243 123,0' The first fruiting year: a) Cultivation 99 87,5 b) Harvesting by hand 198(760) 218,0(900) Fruiting years: a) Cultivation 222 127,0' b) Harvesting by harvester 37,5(3300) by hand 1492(7280) 210,5(800) averages of methods A and B (Table 5). The time spent on establishing the plots and cultivations during fruiting years was about the same in KRÄKEVIK ’s studies in Norway as in this study. The small size of the plots meant that not all cultivation tasks could be mechanized. As far as the full-grown bushes were concerned, about twice as much time was spent on pruning with shears in KRÄKEVIK ’S study as in the present one. The main reason for this was probably the varieties cultivated, which needed priming differendy. The man hours consumed in hand picking are not comparable, as hand picking was preceded by mechanical harvester on the study farms in Finland. According to a Finnish study carried out in 1980 the HERKO study (LISKOLA et al.) labour output with hand picking was 6,3 kg/h, whereas in the present study it was 3,8 kg/h. The lower labour output in the latter case was due to hand picking being produced by mechanical harvesting. The labour output with baton picking was 16,0 kg/h in the HERKO-study. In the present study the average labour output was 10,0 kg/h. This includes cleaning the berries and idle time. A yield of 5 000 kg/ha was harvested by Joonas harvester in 4,5 hours and 13,5 man hours per hectare were required (LISKOLA et al. 1980). These figures obviously include only the effective working time. In the present study 6,0 machine hours and 37,5 man hours per hectare were consumed when the average yield was 3 300 kg/ha. The variation in labour consumption is very remarkable and the reasons for this are not easily identified. The cultivation method, cultivation area, size of the yield and the harvesting method account for only appr. 20 % (of) the variation according to regression analysis. In Finland, large scale blackcurrant cultivation is in its very early stages. Less than ten years have elapsed since intensive development started in this field. Growers are just getting to know the different methods, and they have developed their machinery, especially harvesting machines, themselves. Well planned blackcurrant cultivation areas do exist and cultivation and harvesting methods are being rationalized. On the best farms the work done on cultivation was only approx, half the average for both the very slightly mechanized group (A) and the highly mechanized one (B). Labour consumption in harvesting, will clearly decrease in the future, when cultivations reach normal fruiting level and cultivation methods are developed according to the best known methods. 327 References KRÄKEVIK, S. 1973. Arbcidsforbrukct i solbaerproduksjonen. Forskn. og fors. i landbr. 24, 4: 341—356. LISKOLA, K., TAHVONEN, R. & HYTÖNEN, T. 1980. Herukan konekorjuu HERKO. Sitra. Sarja B. 56. 80 p. Helsinki. YLÄRANTA, M. & RYYNÄNEN, V. 1981. Consumption of working time in strawberry production. J. Scicnt. Agric. Soc. Finl. 53: 75—82. Ms received December 10, 1981. SELOSTUS Mustaherukan työnmenekki Maritta Yläranta ja Viljo Ryynänen PAaatalousekonomian laitos, Helsingin yliopisto, SF-00710 Helsinki 71 Vuosina 1977—80 tutkittiin mustaherukanviljely n työnmenekkiä 29 maatilalla. Tutkimuksessa oli mukana yhteensä 136,7 ha mustaherukkaa. Työnmenekki selvitettiin erikseen perustamisvaiheessa, hoitokesänä, ensimmäisenä satokesänä ja varsinaisi- na satokesinä. Sadonkorjuuta koskevat havainnot tehtiin koneellisesta korjuusta sekä patukka- jakäsinpoiminnas- ta. Perustamisvaiheen ihmistyönmcnckki oli koneellista istutusta käytettäessä yhteensä 98,5 h/ha. Traktoriau- ralla ajettuihin vahoihin lapiolla istutettaessa ihmistyönmenekki kohosi 147,0 tuntiin hehtaaria kohti. Hoitokesä- nä viljelys vaati keskimäärin 83,5 h/ha ihmistyötä. Ensimmäisenä satokesänä hoitotöihin kului 87,5 h/ha. Tutki- musajanjakson marjanviljelylle epäedullisten sääolojen takia ensimmäisen vuoden sato käsinpoimituilla lohkoilla jäi 900 kg/ha. Käsinpoimintaan käytettiin 218,0 h/ha. Viljelmillä, joilla käytettiin patukkapoimintaa, sato oli ensimmäisenä kesänä 1 800 kg/ha. Työnmenekki oli 210.0 h/ha. Täysi-ikäistcn kasvustojen hoitotöihin kului käytettäessä vähän koneellistettua menetelmää 1 58,5 h/ha jakäytettäessä koneellistettua menetelmää 95,0 h/ha. Patukkapoimintaan (sato 4 000 kg/ha) käytettiin 400,0 h/ha. Koneelliseen sadonkorjuuseen (sato 3 300 kg/ha) tarvittiin konetyötä 6 h/ha ja 37,5 h/ha ihmistyötä. Konepoiminnan jälkeen suoritettiin vielä jälkipoiminta käsin (sato 800 kg/ha), johon käytettiin työtä 210,5 h/ha. Lisäksi työnjohtoon ja sekalaisiin töihin kului poiminta- aikana 24,5 h/ha.