TEAGASC ezine / 05
TEAGASC MUSHROOM PICKING TECHNOLOGY WEBINARS
CHRISTIAEN’S ‘DRAWER HARVESTING SYSTEM’
Mushroom growers face a constant challenge of recruiting and retaining staff to harvest crops. Labour accounts for one third of a mushroom farm’s overall cost of production. The current method of harvesting mushrooms consists of one-handed picking, manually cutting the mushroom stalk, placing the mushrooms into the punnet, weighing
the punnet to ensure it reaches the correct weight specification, labelling the punnet and placing the punnet into the crate. This process has been in place since mushroom production began. However, as availability of labour tightens, this means the industry must look at streamlining the process to gain harvesting efficiency.
Teagasc Mushroom Advisor, Donal Gernon, attempts to address this issue by hosting a mushroom picking technology webinar series featuring some of the world’s leading companies in the area of mushroom picking innovations. The webinars are exclusive to all mushroom growers and stakeholders in Ireland. Some of the interesting technologies include GTL’s ‘tilting shelf system’, Christiaen’s ‘drawer system’ and Axis Technologies’ ‘mushroom processing unit’. All these technologies are aimed at reducing labour costs by introducing twohanded picking on to conveyors which cuts the stalk and transports the mushroom to the packing area. These systems are aiming to double the speed of picking and ultimately reduce dependence on recruiting and retaining harvesters. ✽
TEAGASC NEW APPOINTMENT Teagasc recently appointed Eoin Sweetman as Specialised Vegetable Advisor to the Horticulture Development Department in Ashtown, Dublin. Eoin will take over from Stephen Alexander who retired recently. Eoin completed a B.Ag.Sc in Horticulture from UCD in 2018, and since then has been studying a M.Ag.Sc in the Walsh Scholarship programme. His thesis ‘Factors Influencing Tillage Students’ Decision to Diversify into Horticultural Food Production’ investigated opportunities to increase participation in vegetable sector by young tillage farmers. Eoin comes from a strong horticultural and agricultural background, in North Co. Dublin. ✽
EOIN SWEETMAN, NEWLY APPOINTED SPECIALISED VEGETABLE ADVISOR TO THE HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT IN ASHTOWN, DUBLIN
HORTASSURE PROJECT IS LAUNCHED A new four-year study led by Teagasc and funded by DAFM, investigating key issues in the management of microbial and chemical contamination of horticultural produce has been launched. The HortAssure project will seek to support the horticultural sector in mitigating the risks associated with microbiological and chemical contamination by developing evidence-based knowledge regarding the sources of contamination. The project will look at current and new technologies to help reduce the risks of contamination. Some of this work will involve structured sampling of water sources and surfaces on commercial horticultural facilities to identify likely routes of exposure. It is by identifying potential routes of exposure that will allow the industry to take remedial actions to reduce the risk to their business and their consumers. The project team is extremely keen to work directly with horticultural producers on this project, so if you are interested in finding out more please contact either Kaye.Burgess@teagasc.ie or Michael.Gaffney@Teagasc.ie. ✽
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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Winter 2020
