The Results of Laboratory Studies of the Device for Evaluation of Suitability of Potato Tubers for Mechanized Harvesting

The purpose of this study is to substantiate the concept of a device for the evaluation of the suitability of varieties and hybrids of potato tubers for mechanical harvesting from the earliest stages of the selection process and to perform quantitative and structural assessment of damage to potato varieties and hybrids inflicted by the device, simulating the process of the harvester’s separating element operation depending on the machine type and harvesting conditions. The structural and operating diagram of the device for the evaluation of suitability of varieties and hybrids for mechanized harvesting has been developed, and the procedure and results of the study to determine the force action of the separating surface of the developed device on the potato tubers are presented. The device developed in accordance with the proposed conceptual scheme, further calibrated to account for modern potato harvesters would make it possible to conduct targeted selection of varieties suitable for mechanized cultivation, as well as to assess the degree of resistance of potato varieties to mechanized harvesting at early stages of selective and seed production works.