Timeliness Harvesting Loss of Rice in Cold Region under Different Mechanical Harvesting Methods

The yield loss during the process of harvesting is a great challenge in rice production. A suitable harvesting time and harvesting method can help to reduce the yield losses of rice, and decisions about the harvest date have important implications for labor management as well as for agricultural machinery scheduling. Nonetheless, the comprehensive composition of timeliness harvesting loss (THL) and its changing rules for different harvesting methods remain poorly understood. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of harvest date and mechanical harvesting methods on grain dry matter timeliness loss (GDMTL) and mechanical timeliness losses (MTL) of rice in the cold region. To this end, the field experiment was conducted from 45 days after heading (45 DAH) to 59 days after heading (59 DAH), adopting a full-feeding and semi-feeding combine harvester (FCH and SCH) from 2019 to 2020. The results showed that harvest date had a significant effect on GDMTL and four kinds of MTL including header timeliness loss (HTL), cleaning timeliness loss (CTL), un-threshed timeliness loss (UTTL), and entrainment timeliness loss (ETL, only under FCH). With the prolonged harvest date, the HTL and CTL increased and the UTTL and ETL decreased, which ranged from 0.15-0.31%, 0.36-0.67%, 0.72-0.18%, and 0.69-0.31%, respectively for FCH. For SCH, the variation range of HTL, CTL, and UTTL was 0.41-0.59%, 0.66-0.98%, and 0.64-0.21%, respectively. The GDMTL increased first and then decreased, ranging from 2.84-0.87%. The mechanical harvesting methods had no significant effect on the GDMTL of rice, but the MTL could be large between FCH and SCH. In general, optimal harvest period was 52 DAH similar to 53 DAH for both harvesting methods, which exhibited the highest yield and the lowest loss, i.e., 9269.3 kg/hm(2) and 1.70%, respectively, and the mechanical operating mode on different harvest dates was recommended to minimize the mechanical loss. The optimal harvest date for rice in a cold region ensured both quality and quantity for mechanized harvesting, and provided a reference for the reasonable allocation of operating harvesters in the harvesting season.

Automated summary

The research investigated the impact of harvest date and mechanical harvesting methods on rice yield losses, finding that the harvest date significantly affected different types of losses. Harvesting around 52-53 days after heading resulted in optimal yield and minimal losses.