STUDY ON THE BIOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STALKS OF DIFFERENT GINGER VARIETIES

To address the problems of ginger stalks being easily broken and incompletely cut during the clamp-pull ginger harvesting process, two ginger varieties, small yellow ginger and red ginger, were selected as experimental subjects. The basic biophysical parameters of the two varieties were measured, and the mechanical properties of their stalks were tested through shear, compression, tensile, and pull-out tests. The results showed that the mechanical properties of red ginger stalks were superior to those of small yellow ginger, and the stalks were less prone to breakage during harvesting. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the middle part of red ginger stalks were better than those of the upper and lower parts, making it more suitable as the clamping position in clamp-pull harvesting. The maximum shear strength of red ginger stalks was 1.42 MPa, the maximum compressive strength was 0.21 MPa, the maximum tensile strength was 4.31 MPa, and the average pull-out force was 68.45 N. This study provides a basis for low-damage ginger harvesting and for the selection of varieties suitable for mechanized harvesting.