In certain cases, time spent on activities other than picking may account for more than 50% of the total working time ( Ehsani and Udumala, 2010). Workers normally need to climb up and down the trees with a ladder to pick the fruits that are then delivered to a central packaging facility. Relatively low harvesting efficiency is a crucial problem for manually harvested citrus orchards. Further, researchers from Brazil also showed the labor costs during harvesting represented 44% of the total citrus production cost ( Costa and Camarotto, 2012). Researchers estimated that manual harvesting costs accounted for 29% and 43% of the total direct production cost of oranges and mandarins in Andalucia, respectively ( Moreno et al., 2015). Citrus in Spain is also harvested manually. The procedure requires workers to clip, pick, and handle these specific fruits carefully due to their thin and easily damageable skin. The high costs for harvesting specialty citrus fruits, such as tangelos and tangerines, are due to the required extra caution and labor process.
The average harvesting costs for Florida fresh citrus in 2017 were estimated to be $3.28, $2.65, and $4.46 per box for sweet oranges, grapefruit, and specialty citrus, respectively. (2017) performed a survey of 15 harvesting companies that were responsible for harvesting 18% of the total citrus cultivation area in Florida (79,996 acres) to determine the costs associated with manually harvesting various citrus varieties. The major cost concern for manual harvesting is associated with labor. Also, manual harvesting is sometimes carried out as a clean-up operation either after the mechanical harvesting or at the end of the harvesting season to pick up the fruits that are left behind ( Sanders, 2005). Historically, manual harvesting has been the preferred method for achieving high-quality control and minimizing tree damage ( Benkeblia et al., 2011).
Although it is labor intensive, manual harvesting is particularly popular for fruits that have large time windows for optimal maturity or for fruits that are marketed for direct consumption ( Sanders, 2005). Manual harvesting is a traditional and common method to harvest fruits. Zhongli Pan, in Integrated Processing Technologies for Food and Agricultural By-Products, 2019 2.1 Manual Harvesting