Gallardo, Karina R. (author), Stafne, Eric T. (author), Devetter, Lisa Wasko (author), Zhang, Qi (author), Li, Charlie (author), Takeda, Fumiomi (author), Williamson, Jeffrey (author), Yang, Wei Qiang (author), Cline, William O. (author), Beaudry, Randy (author), Allen, Renee (author), and Washington State University
Mississippi State University
University of Georgia
University of Florida
Oregon State University
Michigan State University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018-02
Published:
United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 11 Document Number: D10337
7 pages., Via online journal., The availability and cost of agricultural labor is constraining the specialty crop industry throughout the United States. Most soft fruits destined for the fresh market are fragile and are usually hand harvested to maintain optimal quality and postharvest longevity. However, because of labor shortages, machine harvest options are being explored out of necessity. A survey on machine harvest of blueberries (Vaccinium sp.) for fresh market was conducted in 2015 and 2016 in seven U.S. states and one Canadian province. Survey respondents totaled 223 blueberry producers of various production sizes and scope. A majority (61%) indicated that their berries were destined for fresh markets with 33% machine harvested for this purpose. Eighty percent said that they thought fruit quality was the limiting factor for machine-harvested blueberries destined for fresh markets. Many producers had used mechanized harvesters, but their experience varied greatly. Just less than half (47%) used mechanical harvesters for fewer than 5 years. Most respondents indicated that labor was a primary concern, as well as competing markets and weather. New technologies that reduce harvesting constraints, such as improvements to harvest machinery and packing lines, were of interest to most respondents. Forty-five percent stated they would be interested in using a modified harvest-aid platform with handheld shaking devices if it is viable (i.e., fruit quality and picking efficiency is maintained and the practice is cost effective). Overall, the survey showed that blueberry producers have great concerns with labor costs and availability and are open to exploring mechanization as a way to mitigate the need for hand-harvest labor.
30 pages., via online journal., Information communication technology (ICT) and environmental innovation (EI) are
relevant waves of the ongoing technological revolution. We study the
complementarity in innovation adoption to test the research hypothesis that the higher
the diffusion and intensity of usage of ICT and EI, the higher a firm’s productivity
performance might be. However, it is not certain that the use of different innovations
stemming from different innovation paths generates higher productivity. To test our
hypothesis, we use original survey data concerning manufacturing firms in Northeast
Italy including detailed information on both ICT and EI. Empirical evidence shows
that there are still wide margins to improve the integration between EI and ICT in
order to exploit their potential benefits on productivity. The awareness of specific
synergies seems to mainly characterise the heavy polluting firms that are subject to
more stringent environmental constraints, while some trade-offs tend to emerge for
the remaining firms.
