Harvesting palm fruit can be time-consuming, expensive and labour-intensive as the traditional varieties of palm oil trees are very tall and grow harvestable fruits from the 7th year unlike the much shorter, improved ‘tenera’ varieties that grow harvestable fruit from the third to fourth year thereby reducing the use of climbers because harvesting can take place from the ground for many years before the trees eventually grow too tall.

Climbers are becoming more expensive as a result a large amount of fruit is lost to farmers as it rots on the trees. The Adjustable Palm Fruit Harvester is a welcome technology that enables farmers to harvest fruit from very tall trees themselves thereby eliminating the need for climbers.

The adjustable harvester has the engine at its base. Its standard length is 8 feet but can be adjusted up to 15 feet. The tip of the harvester has a sharp blade that is used to cut the palm fronds first, then it cuts the base of the fruit bunches. The equipment has the capacity to harvest 16,000 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per day thereby improving harvest yield and providing additional good quality fruit for processing. Read more here