A solar-powered harvester arrives in the Netherlands
"Our latest machine to meet the needs of a customer in the Netherlands is an all-electric harvester…"Our latest machine to meet the needs of a customer in the Netherlands is an all-electric harvester for leafy vegetables, especially parsley, powered by solar energy," says Alberico Durso, founder of Dari Ecomeccanica, a machine builder from Eboli, in the southern Italian province of Salerno.
It is Vertical, a machine conceived in-house by Dari Ecomeccanica, an Italian company based in Eboli (Salerno). The novelty is designed for harvesting leafy vegetables, with an ad hoc cutting and harvesting system to pick the product in an orderly, bunched fashion.
"This machine is designed for harvesting leafy vegetables in neat rows and in a vertical position, hence the name Vertical. The advantage lies precisely in the harvesting of vegetables in bunches both for small leaf vegetables such as baby leaves and for essences with larger leaves such as basil and parsley, in fact it is suitable for harvesting in bunches of: arugula, cilantro, spinach and spinach, parsley, basil and many other vegetable essences."
Dari Ecomeccanica designs innovative horticultural mechanics requested by customers. Vertical can also be supplied with an electric motor with standard power supply or from renewable sources, or through an endothermic process if the customer so requires.
"The machine cuts the vegetables orderly and carefully, producing the same result as with manual harvesting. This is precisely why Vertical moves forward slowly, in order to cut and transport the vegetables in an orderly manner. The grower also has the option of bundling the vegetables directly. Furthermore, Vertical can be equipped with a labeler to speed up product labeling. Upon request, the machine can even be equipped with solar panels."
The machine can be used both inside the greenhouse and outside. Moreover, when powered by renewable sources, it is charged by the sun's rays while working. In this way, work autonomy increases in full energy balance.
"Vertical represents an ecological and economical choice, because the machine makes twice as many bundles compared to manual harvesting. Operating costs are low, there is no environmental impact and better quality control of the harvested product is guaranteed," concludes Durso.
