Mechanical Harvesting of Castor Bean (Ricinus communis L.) with a Combine Harvester Equipped with Two Different Headers: A Comparison of Working Performance

Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) is a promising industrial crop suitable for cultivation in marginal conditions the Mediterranean area, but mechanical harvesting of seeds still usually performed manually. In this manuscript, authors present preliminary test to assess effectiveness equipping combine harvester with sunflower header mechanically harvest castor beans. Machinery performance, seed loss from impact (ISL) and cleaning systems (CSL), were evaluated compared results obtained same equipped cereal header. According results, no statistically significant difference CSL was found. Values ranged 162. 41 kg dry matter (DM) ha−1 145.56 DM header, corresponding, respectively, 8% w/w 7% potential yield (PSY). Using significantly lowered ISL (158.16 ha−1, i.e., PSY) comparison (282.02 14% PSY). This suggests more gentle cutting conveying capability plants without losing capsules. On other hand, use different headers did not affect which averaged at 20% total collected both cases. conclusion, study highlights that conventional could be first step towards development fully mechanized phase beans triggers lower does negatively capacity harvester. Further studies are also encouraged confirm these findings hybrids.