Benefits of cover crops and strip-till for pumpkin production – interview with Michael Camenzuli from Bathurst (6 minutes)
Harvesting is twice as fast as in conventional tillage as the pumpkins need no wash. This means a cost reduction of roughly AU$1,000 per hectare (see table below).
Table: Simplified labour cost estimate for pumpkin harvesting:
|
|
Harvest Cost (labour)* |
||
|
Method |
$/t |
$/ha |
Difference ($/ha) |
|
Ryecorn cover crop + Roll + Strip-till |
20 |
1,000 |
|
|
Conventional tillage |
40 |
2,000 |
+ 1,000 |
* Assumptions: Labour cost at $30/h/person; yield (average) is 50 t/ha; harvest speed is 1.5 t/ha and 0.75 t/ha for Cover crop + Roll + Strip-till and Convential tillage respectively.
The podcast is available below: