Question

Two students have learned that local farmers do not have the help they need to harvest all the fruit from their trees. The students set out to design a fruit-picking device that will help pick more fruit safely in less time. What two criteria are most important for the machine to be successful?

Answer 1

The most important criteria for a successful fruit-picking device are efficiency and safety, allowing for quick harvesting without harm to workers or fruit, in line with historical trends in agricultural mechanization.

Step-by-step explanation:

The two most important criteria for a fruit-picking device to be successful would be efficiency and safety. Efficiency means that the device must be able to pick a large quantity of fruit quickly to address the issue of insufficient labor and maximize productivity. Safety is essential to ensure that neither the workers using the device nor the fruit being harvested are harmed during the process. In the context of agricultural mechanization, like the irrigation system example, these criteria align with historical advancements that have allowed single farmers to produce larger quantities of crops with a more consistent quality. Similarly, the design of a fruit-picker should allow local farmers to harvest more fruit from their trees with less manual labor while maintaining or improving the quality of the harvest. When considering the labor-intensive nature of fruit and vegetable farming, especially in places like California's Great Central Valley, devices that streamline the process and reduce dependence on hard-to-find labor could significantly impact the agricultural sector, both economically and socially.