MECHANICAL HARVESTING AND DEHULLING OF 6 STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS AFTER 4HAND-PICKINGS

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the mechanical harvesting and processing suitability of four standard strawberry [Fragaria xananassa (Duch.)] cultivars ('Kent', 'Glooscap', 'Bounty', and 'Midway') and t he recent introductions 'Chambly' and 'Oka'. 'Kent', 'Glooscap', 'Oka' , and 'Chambly' had the highest yields and heaviest fruit. Similar per centages of berries of all cultivars were destroyed by the harvester. 'Oka' and 'Midway' were not suitable for this type of mechanical harve sting due to their susceptibility to bruising during harvest. Based on total marketable fruit harvested mechanically, 'Chambly' was the most and 'Oka' was the least adapted cultivars for this particular harvest er. 'Chambly' and 'Glooscap' were easiest to decap, followed by 'Bount y', 'Oka', and 'Midway'. None of the cultivars tested were suited idea lly for machine harvesting, and further breeding is required to produc e well-adapted cultivars.