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The cooling of olives stored in containers with a capacity of 400 kg risk accumulation of respiration heat and subsequent fruit deterioration. Pre-cooling the fruit to 5 °C before cold storage was studied as a possible solution to overcome this obstacle. The fruit temperature within the containers was recorded daily for 14 days and oil was extracted at days 0, 4, 8, and 14. A second experiment evaluated a rapid pre-cooling procedure at -18 °C for 3 min. No significant alterations at the level of the examined parameters were recorded. The internal temperature of the control container declined and stabilized at around 12 °C. The temperature of the pre-cooled fruit increased to up to 8 °C. The examined parameters showed no significant alterations in either experiment and the rapid pre-cooling treatment did not lead to any visible ‘chill injuries’. A pre-cooling treatment at 5 °C was successfully introduced at the farm of a small producer. El enfriamiento de aceitunas almacenadas en contenedores (400 kg) corre el riesgo de acumulación de calor respiratorio y posterior deterioro de la fruta. Se estudió el preenfriamiento de la fruta a 5 °C antes del almacenamiento en frío como una posible solución para superar este obstáculo. La temperatura de la fruta dentro de los contenedores se registró diariamente durante 14 días y el aceite se extrajo los días 0, 4, 8 y 14. Un segundo experimento evaluó un procedimiento de preenfriamiento rápido a -18 °C durante 3 min. No se registraron alteraciones significativas a nivel de los parámetros examinados. La temperatura interna del recipiente de control disminuyó y se estabilizó alrededor de 12 °C. La fruta pre-enfriada aumentó hasta 8 °C. Los parámetros examinados no mostraron alteraciones significativas en ambos experimentos y el preenfriamiento rápido no provocó “lesiones por frío” visibles. Se introdujo con éxito un tratamiento de pre-enfriamiento a 5 °C en la finca de un pequeño productor.

Diploma thesis deals with problematic of self-propelled harvesting machines in agricultural production. Teoretic part includes history of the combain harvesting in Czech and the world, analysis of the harvesting systems, comparison between axial and tangential apparatus with summary of solutions for precision agriculture. Practical part is focused on technical-economic comparison during harvest of grain and rape seeds and economic evaluation of the usage of John Deer and Class combain harvesters in the farm Agrospol Knínice. The conclusion contains results of the carried out technical and economical data collecting.

The rationalization of working procedures during difficult market conditions is gaining increasing importance. For rational production, it is necessary to always be aware of what and how much to invest in the business process to obtain the desired products or services without economic loss. This article presents a tool for the assessment of costs in forest wood supply chains. WoodChainManager is a Web-based tool composed of three user modules intended for the assessment of material costs of individual machines or the total costs of all selected machines in a forest harvesting system. Users can test the impact of individual technologies on the total material costs of the harvesting system and thus optimize operation processes. The basic tool for describing harvesting systems is the matrix, which visualizes cutting and hauling from the standing tree in the stand to the forest products at the end user. The tool has built-in algorithms that prevent the selection of an illogical harvesting system. The selected method for calculating costs for individual machines is simple, but still reflects the state of the actually incurred costs. WoodChainManager offers cost calculations for a wide range of technologies, machines and appurtenant attachments. The authors of this paper wish to increase awareness and understanding of cost calculations and to offer the possibility to directly compare different harvesting systems.

While modern fully mechanized ground-based systems are a default option for safe and productive harvesting, they have always been limited by terrain factors such as slope, soil strength, and roughn...

Corn is one of the leading commodities after rice. Apart from being a staple food substitute for rice, corn can be used as animal feed and industrial raw materials. Over time, technology development is increasingly sophisticated, allowing corn to be used as a raw material for cosmetics and health supplies. In this study, the farmers used two harvest systems: the self harvest and slash harvest systems. This research was conducted to analyze the cost of farming and the income of maize farmers using the slash harvest system and the harvest system itself in Nglaban Village, Loceret District, Nganjuk Regency. This study using two variables: the dependent variable (the amount of income earned by corn farmers) and the independent variable (area of land, number of seeds, amount of fertilizer, and labor). The cost of farming and income between the harvest system itself and the cropping system of the two results obtained a homogeneous sample diversity from the F-test research results. The cost of farming showed that farming cost with their self-harvest system was higher than the costs of farming with a slash harvest system from the T-test results. Meanwhile, the T-test results from the farmer's income indicated that the income of maize farmers with the self-harvest system was higher than the income of corn farmers with the slash crop system. Jagung merupakan salah satu komoditas unggulan setelah Padi. Selain sebagai salah satu bahan pokok makanan dengan pengganti beras, jagung umumnya menjadi pakan ternak dan bahan baku industri. Seiring perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi, jagung juga dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai salah satu bahan baku kosmetik dan kesehatan. Dalam penelitian ini petani menggunakan dua sistem panen yaitu sistem panen sendiri dan sistem panen tebasan. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan bertujuan untuk mengetahui biaya usahatani dan mengetahui pendapatan petani jagung dengan menggunakan sistem panen tebasan dan sistem panen sendiri di Desa Nglaban, Kecamatan Loceret, Kabupaten Nganjuk. Penelitian ini menggunakan dua variabel yaitu variabel dependen (jumlah pendapatan yang diperoleh petani jagung) dan variabel independen (Luas lahan, jumlah benih, jumlah pupuk, dan tenaga kerja). Dari hasil penelitian uji F Biaya usahatani dan Pendapatan antara sistem panen sendiri dan sistem panen tebasan kedunya didapatkan keragaman sampel yang homogen. Dari hasil Uji T biaya usahatani didapatkan bahwa biaya usahatani petani jagung dengan sistem panen sendiri lebih tinggi dari pada biaya usahatani petani jagung dengan sistem panen tebasan. Sedangkan dari hasil Uji T pendapatan petani didapatkan bahwa pendapatan petani jagung dengan sistem panen sendiri lebih tinggi dari pada pendapatan petani jagung dengan sistem panen tebasan.

El presente trabajo contiene el diseño del sistema de captación de aguas lluvias de cubierta y terreno de la finca Jema ubicada en la vereda Palonegro del municipio de Lebrija-Santander; el cual pretende dar fin a los empozamientos de aguas lluvias durante eventos de fuertes y prolongadas precipitaciones, y poder abastecer el sistema de riego de cultivos. Este se realizó de acuerdo con la normatividad vigente en Colombia, los fundamentos hidráulicos y la base de datos pluviométricos del Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM) durante el periodo 2005-2019. Este proyecto se desarrolló gracias a una metodología de tipo cuantitativa y cualitativa compuesta por 7 etapas: en estas se obtuvieron datos de precipitaciones, áreas productivas, se realizaron evaluaciones para determinar el tipo de drenaje y sistema de riego óptimo, y se diseñó el sistema de captacion de agua lluvia con su respectivo almacenamiento. Finalmente se diseñó un sistema de recolección de agua lluvia que recolecta en el año 150,82 m3 de agua lluvia y cubre la demanda de riego de 146,40 m3, y se recomendó un sistema de riego por goteo el cual distribuye de una manera eficiente el agua recolectada. This work contains the design of the rainwater catchment system for the roof and land of the Jema farm located in the Palonegro village of the municipality of Lebrija-Santander; which aims to end the pools of rainwater during events of heavy and prolonged rainfall, and to supply the irrigation system for crops. This was carried out in accordance with the regulations in force in Colombia, the hydraulic fundamentals and the rainfall database of the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) during the period 2005-2019. This project was developed thanks to a quantitative and qualitative methodology composed of 7 stages: in these, data on rainfall, productive areas were obtained, evaluations were carried out to determine the type of drainage and optimal irrigation system, and the system of rainwater catchment with its respective storage. Finally, a rainwater collection system was designed that collects 150.82 m3 of rainwater in the year and covers the irrigation demand of 146.40 m3, and a drip irrigation system was recommended, which distributes efficiently the collected water. Ingeniera Civil http://www.ustabuca.edu.co/ustabmanga/presentacion Pregrado

To utilize timber and forest biomass resources for bioenergy, technically feasible and economically viable timber and forest biomass resources should be estimated accurately considering their long-term availability. This study focuses on five prefectures, namely, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, and Yamagata, and considers trade between these prefectures. The annual availability of timber and forest biomass resources, such as small-diameter or defect stem logs, rather than logging residues in Japan was estimated as supply potential from profitable forests where expected revenues surpassed all costs, from planting to final harvest. As a result, the supply potential and annual availability of timber were estimated at 11,388,960 m3/year and 1,631,624 m3/year, whereas those of forest biomass resources were estimated at 2,277,792 m3/year and 326,325 m3/year, respectively. Therefore, the rate of annual availability to supply potential was 14.3%. Since timber production and wood chip usage from thinned woods and logging residues in 2018 were 4,667,000 m3/year and 889,600 m3/year, the rates of annual availability for timber and forest biomass resources to those values were 35.0% and 36.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the demand was estimated at 951,740 m3/year from 100,000 m3/year with a generation capacity of 5 MW. The rate of forest biomass resource availability to demand was 34.2%. A thinning subsidy was provided for operational site areas larger than 5 ha in Japan. The rates from subcompartments and aggregated forests with a thinning subsidy increased to 91.4% and 190.3%, respectively. Thus, the estimated availability from aggregated forests with a thinning subsidy met the demand sufficiently in this region.

This article develops the realization of a 3.3 V 60 mA power supply, intended for the feeding of wireless sensor nodes with low consumption over very long durations, with an electrothermogeneration recharge. The analysis of the thermal potential and the electrical power actually recoverable is presented, followed by the installation of the electronic card with these stages: energy harvesting with a BQ25504, storage on supercapacities, and finally, shaping the output voltage with a boost (TPS610995) followed by a LDO (TPS71533)., Cet article développe la réalisation d'une alimentation 3,3 V 60 mA, destinée à l'alimentation de noeuds de capteurs sans fil à faible consommation sur de très longues durées, avec un rechargement par électrothermogénération. L'analyse du potentiel thermique et de la puissance électrique effectivement récupérable est présentée, suivie par la mise en place de la carte électronique avec ces étages : récupérateur d'énergie avec un BQ25504, stockage sur supercapacités, et enfin, mise en forme de la tension de sortie avec un boost (TPS610995) suivi d'un LDO (TPS71533).

Variable retention is an alternative harvesting system that could be implemented instead the more traditional ones (e.g. shelterwood cut for N. pumilio forests in southern Patagonia), because it was designed not only for timber purpose, but also for conservation. However, the impact of different retention types on diversity is not clear, e.g. stenotopic and eurytopic bird species. The objective of this work was to analyse the habitats (inside, edge or outside of aggregated retention) and the use of strata (canopy, stem, debris and floor) for different bird species under two different variable retention harvesting types (aggregated + dispersed retentions, or aggregated retention + clear-cuts). We analysed four years of bird observation data in variable retention harvested and unharvested forest permanent plots located in Tierra del Fuego province (Argentina) belonging to PEBANPA (Parcelas de Ecología y Biodiversidad de Ambientes Naturales en Patagonia Austral) network, also with understory and crown cover data. Statistical analysis included uni-and multivariate tests, and comparisons with unharvested forests. We inventoried nine bird species, six of which showed significantly different habitat preference in variable retention types (Carduelis barbata, Phrygilus patagonicus and Tachycineta leucopyga in aggregated + dispersed retentions, and Enicognathus ferrugineus, P. patagonicus, T. leucopyga, Troglodytes aedon and Zonotrichia capensis in aggregated retention + clear-cuts). Likewise, all evaluated species presented differential use of strata, and some species changed comparing harvested and unharvested forests. DCA (Detrended Corresponded Analysis) highlighted association between species and habitats (e.g. P. patagonicus is more related to outside aggregated retentions) as well as differences between variable retention types, showing that bird species move toward edges when clear-cuts were carried out, among aggregated retention, instead of dispersed retention. These results support the effectiveness of the variable retention to conserve habitat of bird species inside managed forests, which satisfy both stenotopic and eurytopic species requirements., Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales

Pruning residues could represent an important biomass resources for energy production.Only in Italy it has been estimated that an annual quantity of biomass of over 2600 kt of dry matter could be obtained from olive residues. Several machines developed for pruning harvesting are available in the market, most of which are tractor-driven, while limited knowledge is available onperformance, quality of work and costs of harvesting logistics based on stationary chippers. The aim of the present paper is to analyze machine performance of a forestry stationary chipper applied to pruning harvesting for what concerns work productivity, quality of the comminuted product and harvesting operating costs. This system is actually applied by Fiusis Company, an Italian enterprise which manages a biomass power plant exclusively powered by olive trees’ pruning residues, and it has never been analyzed in literature. The results obtained showed consistent work productivity,which resulted the highest ever found in olive pruning harvesting systems and equal to 5.23 tdm h-1. This high work productivity allowed also to obtain a little economic gain from a matter,which is actually considered a problem for olive groves’ owners and not a potential source of income.In particular, the use of a stationary chipper seemed very efficient in olive groves with a consistentamount of wooden residues to be processed and with big branches not harvestable by the most common towed pruning harvester. In addition, the stationary chipper has the advantage of avoiding the preliminary raking operation, which results in reduced costs for the farmer.

This paper presents the design of a harvesting system suited to power supply electronic equipment hosted in a marine buoy for harbor monitoring purposes. The system exploits both wave motion converters and photovoltaic panels to either charge a back-up battery or directly supply the loads. The system has a double stage topology, the first stage is devoted to the tracking of the maximum power point while the second stage manages the energy flow towards battery and loads. The design is made in the LTspice environment by adopting proper models for the state of charge (SOC) of the battery.

WOS: 000365525900060, We present the design, characterization, theoretical and experimental verification of a tunable perfect metamaterial absorber (MA) based electromagnetic (EM) energy harvesting and sensor application. We have used the golden ratio while determining the dimensions allowing a simple configuration and an easy fabrication for the proposed structure. We have examined and analyzed the perfect absorption (both numerically and experimentally) and EM energy harvesting (numerically) behaviors of the proposed structure in order to verify and show the characteristics of the model. It is shown that 99.9 % maximum absorption rate is achieved at 6.78 GHz, and MA structure can be used as an EM energy collector. In order to support the numerical study, an experimental study is realized. We have then developed a sensor application of the proposed MA structure and observed the effects of the harvesting system. Perfect MA sensor based EM energy harvesting system is successfully achieved.

This thesis contains an overview of harvesting thrashing machines. The thesis is divided to chapters according to the used systems and it provides a view of agro technical requirements, a division of the main parts, and the description of their fundamental functions. This work should be used as an additional study material for the students from the agricultural department, transport and manipulative techniques department of the South Bohemian University.

Naraščajoče cene fosilnih goriv in doseganje nacionalnih ciljev na področju povečanja rabe obnovljivih virov prinašajo vse večje zahteve po uporabi naravnih potencialov. Slovenska zakonodaja zelo togo opredeljuje izkoriščanje sečnih ostankov in proizvodnjo zelenih sekancev. To v praksi omogoča precej stihijski razvoj storitev, kjer se z uvajanjem novih tehnologij odpira vrsta vprašanj predvsem glede obremenitev ekoloških dejavnikov. V prispevku je predstavljena metodologija za oblikovanje odločevalnega orodja za izbor ekološko ustrezne tehnologije pri proizvodnji zelenih sekancev, upoštevajoč različne ekološke in tehnološke dejavnike. Gre za tristopenjski metodološki pristop, kjer v prvem koraku opredelimo talne in terenske razmere, v drugem koraku tehnologije ob upoštevanju raznolikosti glede na gospodarske učinke in ekološko primernost, v zadnjem, tretjem koraku, izbranim tehnologijam določimo mesto v odločitveni matriki z upoštevanjem tehnološke in ekološke omejitve posameznih tehnoloških modelov. V prispevku je predstavljenih 13 poenostavljenih proizvodnih procesov, razvrščenih v odločevalno matriko, upoštevaje ekološke in tehnološke vidike pri proizvodnji zelenih sekancev. Due to the rising prices of fossil fuels and promotion of renewable energy sources, we recently witnessed the growing demands of the public for the exploitation of renewable biomass potentials. Slovenian legislation very rigidly defines utilization of logging residues and the production of green chips. In practice, this allows uncontrolled actions that bring new technologies, which raises a number of issues particularly with regard to environmental and ecological burdens. This paper presents a methodological approach used at design of the decision-making tool for the selection of environmentally friendly harvesting system in the production of green woodchips by considering various ecological and technological factors. Basically, a threestep methodological process is used, where in the first step soil and terrain are defined, in the second step, harvesting systems taking into account the diversity in terms of economic impact and ecological suitability are proposed and, last but not least, harvesting systems are placed into decision matrix taking into account technological and environmental constraints of different harvesting systems. The article also suggests 13 harvesting systems that are arranged into decision-making matrix taking into account the ecological, technological aspects in the production of green woodchips.

Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-27T14:53:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000307002600006.pdf: 329741 bytes, checksum: ad84dfff4179c39ac161d5c2c7e5d94d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-01 Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-30T17:58:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000307002600006.pdf: 329741 bytes, checksum: ad84dfff4179c39ac161d5c2c7e5d94d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-01 Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-20T13:17:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000307002600006.pdf: 329741 bytes, checksum: ad84dfff4179c39ac161d5c2c7e5d94d (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T13:17:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WOS000307002600006.pdf: 329741 bytes, checksum: ad84dfff4179c39ac161d5c2c7e5d94d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-01 The harvesting method of fruits of tree species should be adequate to obtain seeds of maximum physiological quality. When present, the dormancy of Cassia ferruginea seeds is due to seed coat impermeability to water. This research work viewed to find the best methods both for the harvesting and for the breaking of dormancy of seeds of that species. The experiment was conducted during two years. In the first, fruits shed from the mother plant and laying on the ground were picked and their seeds submitted to the following treatments: 1. control, 2. mechanical scarification of the seeds with sandpaper no. 220, 3. hot water for 5 minutes (initial and final temperatures of 82 and 69 degrees C, respectively), 4. hot water for 15 minutes (initial and final temperatures of 82 and 51 degrees C, respectively), 5. chemical scarification with H2SO4 (95%) for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 minutes. In the second year, seeds were submitted to treatments 2, 3, and 4 whereas acid scarification was applied for 30, 45, and 60 minutes. The results showed that seeds picked from the ground and those taken directly from the mother plant differ in their response to the dormancy breaking procedure. The results also showed that the seeds picked from the ground are better than those harvested directly from the plant and that, when dormant, the best results are attained when seeds are either submitted to mechanical scarification or chemical scarification with sulfuric acid for periods between 30 and 60 minutes. Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Fac Ciencias Agr & Vet Jaboticabal, BR-14884900 Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil FACIBEN, Fac Integradas Espirita, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Dept Agron, Londrina, PR, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Fac Ciencias Agr & Vet Jaboticabal, BR-14884900 Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil

This study extracted production forests and estimated the annual available amounts of forest biomass resources under profitable forest management. Production forests were extracted as sub-compartments where expected revenues surpassed all costs, from planting to final harvesting, for a 60-year rotation. These revenues and costs were estimated for two types of timber harvesting systems (a conventional operation system using a chainsaw and mini-forwarder, and a mechanized operation system using a processor and forwarder) and three types of forest biomass harvesting systems (normal extraction, landing sales, and no biomass extraction) in each sub-compartment using a geographic information system. Then, annual available amounts of forest biomass resources were estimated on the basis of annual supply potentials from production forests. The model was then applied to Nasushiobara City and the Kanuma area in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. As a result, the number of profitable sub-compartments was estimated as 2,814 out of a total of 5,756 in Nasushiobara City, and 22,872 out of a total of 32,851 in the Kanuma area. The annual amounts of available forest biomass resources were estimated as 11,849 m3 y–1 and 115,213 m3 y–1 in Nasushiobara City and the Kanuma area, respectively. These amounts largely exceed the annual demands of a 500 kW woody biomass power generation plant planned in Nasushiobara City (6,000 m3 y–1) and a chip production factory located in the Kanuma area (12,000 m3 y–1), respectively. €1 = 143 yen on March 13, 2011

The giant reed is a herbaceous energy crop that demonstrates a good adaptability for areas of central-northern Italy. However, its size and stem resistance to cutting pose problems for harvesting in relation both to the availability of suitable machinery and costs of the operation. A technical and economic evaluation has been conducted of a harvesting system based on an experimental machine, the biotriturator, developed by University of Bologna in collaboration with the Nobili Company (Bologna, Italy) and adapted to field operating conditions. The harvesting system consists of cutting-shredding and baling in a single pass. The system was evaluated by performing a winter harvest when the crop was in quiescence and had a low moisture content. The total harvesting costs were evaluated as 11.6 € Mg-1 dry biomass. Given that the estimated area that can be covered by the harvesting system was 123 hectares per year the system represents an effective solution for not very large areas and is therefore suitable for the Italian environment where average farm sizes are slightly over seven hectares (ISTAT, 2011).

Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-27T11:27:29Z No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2014-05-27T14:48:00Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 2-s2.0-84876188035.pdf: 615597 bytes, checksum: dcced8582cdbeaea4406e90f664407ed (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-27T11:27:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-01-01 Soil tillage and other methods of soil management may influence CO 2 emissions because they accelerate the mineralization of organic carbon in the soil. This study aimed to quantify the CO2 emissions under conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT) and reduced tillage (RT) during the renovation of sugarcane fields in southern Brazil. The experiment was performed on an Oxisol in the sugarcane-planting area with mechanical harvesting. An undisturbed or no-till (NT) plot was left as a control treatment. The CO2 emissions results indicated a significant interaction (p < 0.001) between tillage method and time after tillage. By quantifying the accumulated emissions over the 44 days after soil tillage, we observed that tillage-induced emissions were higher after the CT system than the RT and MT systems, reaching 350.09 g m-2 of CO2 in CT, and 51.7 and 5.5 g m-2 of CO2 in RT and MT respectively. The amount of C lost in the form of CO2 due to soil tillage practices was significant and comparable to the estimated value of potential annual C accumulation resulting from changes in the harvesting system in Brazil from burning of plant residues to the adoption of green cane harvesting. The CO 2 emissions in the CT system could respond to a loss of 80% of the potential soil C accumulated over one year as result of the adoption of mechanized sugarcane harvesting. Meanwhile, soil tillage during the renewal of the sugar plantation using RT and MT methods would result in low impact, with losses of 12% and 2% of the C that could potentially be accumulated during a one year period. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd. ESALQ-USP, 11, Avenida Pádua Dias, Piracicaba, SP CENA-USP, 303, Avenida Centenário, Piracicaba, SP FCAV-UNESP, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n, 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP FCAV-UNESP, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n, 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP

Investigated mechanized system consisted of a harvester for felling and processing trees, a forwarder for primary transport of produced roundwood assortments, a forest truck and trailer for long distance transport and a chipper for production of wood chips. Mechanized felling, processing and extraction of produced roundwood assortments were researched in the Forest Administration Gospić, Forest Office Perušić, in a forest culture of Weymouth pine. The average DBH of the investigated trees was 31 cm. Average extraction distance was 450 m. All produced roundwood assortments, with the exception of the saw logs, were transported to a nearby (12.5 km) sawmill and chipped during the unloading. Main aim of the research was to determine the time consumption of the individual work elements in the working process, to design a mathematical model for calculating productivity and to calculate the costs of production. Work of the machines in the wood chips harvesting system was recorded with a digital camera. Division of the work elements and determination of their duration was performed by a subsequent analysis of the recorded video data. Regression analyses were performed in order to determine the dependence of time consumption of felling and time consumption of processing on DBH. Time consumptions of all the other work elements in the system were expressed as average values. By applying the related machine rate the unit costs was calculated on the subsystem level and on the system level. Produced wood chips were sampled and analyzed. Bulk density, moisture content and particle size distribution were determined according to HRN EN standards for solid biofuels. Productivity of the harvester in the thinning of the studied forest culture of Weymouth pine, calculated by a constructed mathematical model, ranges from 14.36 m3/h for DBH 22.5 cm to 26.29 m3/h for DBH 47.5 cm. Standard time, for the studied conditions amounts to 3.04 min/m3 for the harvester, 5.51 min/m3 for the forwarder, 4.89 min/m3 for the forest truck and trailer 1.33 min/m3 for the chipper. Unit cost of the production system is € 18.28/m3. Produced wood chips were classified as particle size distribution class P16B, moisture content class M55+ (64), and bulk density class BD350. Analysis results of the studied wood chips harvesting system in the thinning of the Weymouth pine forest culture allow the evaluation of the application of mechanized harvesting system in similar stand conditions. Valorization should be done in the light of the expected costs of harvesting and the quality and prices of produced wood assortments.

The harvesting method of fruits of tree species should be adequate to obtain seeds of maximum physiological quality. When present, the dormancy of Cassia ferruginea seeds is due to seed coat impermeability to water. This research work viewed to find the best methods both for the harvesting and for the breaking of dormancy of seeds of that species. The experiment was conducted during two years. In the first, fruits shed from the mother plant and laying on the ground were picked and their seeds submitted to the following treatments: 1. control, 2. mechanical scarification of the seeds with sandpaper no. 220, 3. hot water for 5 minutes (initial and final temperatures of 82 and 69 ºC, respectively), 4. hot water for 15 minutes (initial and final temperatures of 82 and 51 ºC, respectively), 5. chemical scarification with H2SO4 (95%) for 20, 30, 40, 50. 60, 70, and 80 minutes. In the second year, seeds were submitted to treatments 2, 3, and 4 whereas acid scarification was applied for 30, 45, and 60 minutes. The results showed that seeds picked from the ground and those taken directly from the mother plant differ in their response to the dormancy breaking procedure. The results also showed that the seeds picked from the ground are better than those harvested directly from the plant and that, when dormant, the best results are attained when seeds are either submitted to mechanical scarification or chemical scarification with sulfuric acid for periods between 30 and 60 minutes. O método de colheita dos frutos deve ser adequado às características de cada espécie e permitir a obtenção de sementes com máxima qualidade. Sementes de Cassia ferruginea apresentam dormência devido à impermeabilidade do tegumento. Este trabalho teve o objetivo de determinar os métodos de colheita e de superação de dormência mais favoráveis à qualidade fisiológica de sementes de C. ferruginea. O trabalho foi conduzido em dois anos. No primeiro ano, os frutos foram colhidos no chão e as sementes foram submetidas aos seguintes tratamentos de superação de dormência: testemunha (1), escarificação mecânica em lixa número 220 (2), H2O quente por 5 minutos (temperaturas inicial e final de 82 oC e 69 oC respectivamente) (3) e por 15 minutos (temperaturas inicial e final de 82 oC e 51 oC, respectivamente), escarificação química com H2SO4 (95%) por 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 e 80 minutos. No segundo ano as sementes foram colhidas no chão e na planta e as sementes foram submetidas aos tratamentos 1, 2, 3 e escarificação com H2SO4 por 30, 45 e 60 minutos (períodos de imersão em H2SO4 selecionados com base na germinação do experimento anterior). As sementes obtidas de frutos colhidos no chão ou na planta apresentam resposta diferenciada aos tratamentos de superação de dormência. Para a obtenção de sementes de C. ferruginea com máxima qualidade fisiológica, os frutos devem ser colhidos no chão e as sementes devem ser submetidas a escarificação com lixa ou H2SO4 por 30 a 60 min.