ABSTRACT
Mechanization of date harvesting has been of interest among many growers and investigators over the past 40 years. Variable maturity of fruit on a single palm is often a limiting factor in harvest mechanization. As all of the fruits in a bunch do not ripen at the same time, it is necessary to make several pickings during the season. Selective hand-picking of the individual ripe fruits from each bunch is the most expensive cultural operation (Al-Suhaibani et al., 1988).
