Soil intake with cane during chopper harvesting - minimising the problem

Soil in cane has an important impact on maintenance, operational costs and efficiency of filtration and clarification in sugar mills. Harvester maintenance costs are also increased due to the abrasive action of soil. Research to reduce soil levels in chopper harvested cane therefore has been given high priority by BSES and the Sugar Research and Development Corporation (SRDC). The research approach has addressed two aspects of the soil problem - improving field conditions so that soil intake by the harvester is reduced, and improving harvester design so that soil intake and dirt rejection is improved.