Evolução e perspectivas da colheita mecanizada do feijão

Abstract

The mechanization of the common bean harvest began in the 1980s in Brazil. Nowadays, the manual harvesting is restricted to small growers that produce grains for subsistence. The technological modernization of the rural areas modified the common bean harvest procedures. Mechanized harvest is a common procedure in medium and large-sized fields. Several factors related to the inadequate management of the soil (furrows and elevations) and prostate plants (pods close to the ground) hamper the use of harvesting machines. The common bean can be harvested in a single stage (using appropriate combine harvesters) or in two stages (sequential using of mowing and recollector-thresher machines). Despite the advances achieved especially with harvester equipments designed for common beans, the harvest is still a practice that deserves a lot of attention, because grain losses remain high.