Research Status and Prospects of Sweet Potato Harvesters’ Conveying and Separation Mechanisms

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The overall structure of the article is reasonable, the research methods are scientifically sound, and it has high academic value. However, there are still areas that need improvement. The following are specific review comments and suggestions:

1. The picture of the operation mode in Figure 1 is best described in flowchart mode; The last drawing of the first operation mode does not conform to the actual operation, please check the content carefully and modify it.

2. There is a watermark or logo in the picture, it is necessary to modify the image source file, please delete the irrelevant mark to meet the normative requirements of scientific and technological papers.

3. What can be learned from the research results of other countries for China? Please provide additional information.

4. What is the status and role of the harvesting conveyor system in sweet potato combined harvester, and please analyze why the conveyor system causes damage to sweet potatoes.

5. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are very similar, Suggest adding potato conveying and separation technology and whether it can be used on sweet potato harvesters in “4. Other Transport and Separation Technologies” 

6. Some expressions, such as “The existing domestic and international” in the 45 row and “at home and abroad” in the 99 row should be revised, because the article is aimed at the whole world, and the domestic reference is not clear.

7. The language and details of the article still need to be improved, for example, the first sentence of the introduction, “sweet potato is sweet potato”, “4.Existing issues”in the 349 row, which should be “5.Existing issues” .

Author Response

We are very grateful that you took the time out of your busy schedule to review our paper. Thank you for your feedback on our article; we have actively considered your comments and suggestions and have made the necessary revisions.

1. We have reselected appropriate images to replace the unsuitable ones, and presented them in the form of a flowchart.
2. We have modified the images and ensured that they comply with the writing standards of scientific papers.
3. China can learn from the research on sweet potato harvesting machine conveying and separating mechanisms in other countries and adopt suitable aspects for its own use.
4. The conveying and separating mechanism in the sweet potato combined harvester mainly serves to transport the tubers and separate sweet potatoes from the soil. In the introduction, we discussed the conveying and separating mechanism and analyzed the reasons for the damage it causes to the sweet potatoes.
5. The harvesting methods for sweet potatoes and potatoes are similar. The "vertical ring conveyor separation technology" discussed in the second subsection of Chapter Four is applied in the mechanized harvesting of potatoes but has not been used in the mechanized harvesting of sweet potatoes.
6. We have corrected any errors or inaccuracies in wording.
7. We have made revisions to the language and details of the article, and refined the language of this paper through the author services of MDPI.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript has done a very meaningful job about the research status of sweet potato harvester conveying and separation. However, there are still some issues with the manuscript.

1.Why limit the research object to sweet potato, the difference in harvesting techniques between sweet potato and potato is small. If it must be limited to sweet potato, describe the differences in harvesting techniques between sweet potato and other potato.

2.There are some errors in the manuscript. For example: Line 201 Incorrect title number. Line 433 translate error. Please check the manuscript carefully.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English could be improved to more clearly express the research.

Author Response

We are very grateful that you took the time out of your busy schedule to review our paper. Thank you for your feedback on our article; we have actively considered your comments and suggestions and have made the necessary revisions.

1. There are many similarities in the mechanized harvesting techniques for sweet potatoes and potatoes, but there are also some differences between the two. Potatoes need to be treated with desiccants two to three days before harvest. After the desiccation process, the skin of the potato will harden over time; we refer to this phenomenon as skin lignification. In contrast, sweet potatoes are harvested after the vines are removed, and their skin does not lignify. Therefore, during mechanized harvesting, sweet potatoes are more likely to bruise than potatoes. Additionally, sweet potatoes are generally larger and have a more irregular shape compared to potatoes. Thus, while there are similarities in the mechanized harvesting techniques for potatoes and sweet potatoes, they cannot be generalized.
2. We have corrected the errors in the text.

 

Regarding the issue you raised about the need to improve the quality of the article's English, we have revised the language and details of the article, and have polished the language through MDPI's author services.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Overall comments: interesting work and discussion. One general comment – many of the sentences were lists of things, making the sentences very long. Shorten and have concise sentences which will make easier reading. Pictures need to be cited in the text – they have to be used to further explain the text. Also the photos have to have a proper citation – who took the photos or where are they from. Many figures were not cited in the text and they lacked proper refencing

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Many sentences were too long - lists of points or descriptions; there was significant repetition of points/ideas. They were good - but need only to be said once; 

Author Response

We are very grateful that you took the time out of your busy schedule to review our paper. Thank you for your feedback on our article; we have actively considered your comments and suggestions and have made the necessary revisions.

1. Line 14: language "… transportation is imminent" - a better word would be " needed " - imminent refers to time

We have modified the wording of the article.

2. Line 27: need a reference for the "anti-cancer" effects

We will add references regarding the "anti-cancer" effects in 2-5.

3. Line 28: what is meant by a " potential new energy crop " - for humans, for animals, biofuels?

Potential energy crops refer to crops like sweet potatoes that can produce desired products, such as the biofuels you mentioned, through various processing methods when needed.

4. Line 37: what is meant by". hold a very critical position. ." as a food crop?

We made modifications to this and reorganized the narrative describing the status of sweet potatoes.

5. Line 46 and line 47: what is meant by " separating mechanism" - the sweet potatoes are separated from each other? From soil?

The "separation mechanism" refers to the process of separating sweet potatoes from the soil.

6. Lines 45 - 59: there was a lot of repetition regarding the conveyor and separator; the sentences should be tighter and clearer - less words for what you want to say.

We have reorganized the language to narrate this passage.

7. Line 62 to 66: this is all one sentence - perhaps have two shorter more concise sentences.

We have shortened the sentence.

8. Line 74: no need for "tubers trips " - just tubers is sufficient , or you could say "the tubers are laid in strips on the ridges "

We have modified the wording of the article.

9. Line 80: it is necessary to refer to Figure 1 in the text; also the photos should say where they are form and who took them.

We referenced Figure 1 in the text, and the image is sourced from the author's photography.

10. Line 89: remove the semi colon and use a period ".…0nce; The one-step."

We changed the semicolon to a period.

11. Line 91: use either " mainly or widely" not both.

We removed the word 'broadly' and only used the word 'mainly.'

12. Line 94- 95: not sure what " reference" means in the sentence - could just say value or use.

We have removed the disputed words and rephrased the language.

13. Line 96: again Figure 2 needs to be referred to in the text and the photos referenced.

We cited the contents of Figure 2 in the text.

14. As an objective of the paper is to discuss tuber damage - how much skin and tuber damage occurs with the first two systems?

Different harvesting methods used by different machines can lead to varying degrees of skin peeling and damage to sweet potatoes, so this section does not provide specific numerical values for each operational mode.

15. Line 127 -128: The objective of the paper is to describe the different harvesters - here there is a " box-type" and "direct-loading" without an explanation of how they There is some discussion of the box type- but not of the direct leading.

The focus of this section is to introduce the working principle of the conveying and separation mechanism of the harvester. To avoid excessive discussion, no additional content is included.

16. Line 157: what is meant by" handle the sweet potato vines "

Processing sweet potato vines refers to the use of machines to remove sweet potato vines. The vines need to be removed before harvesting the sweet potatoes.

17. Line 158: more details on the ". unique floating ridge cutting."

This device is the excavation mechanism of the machine, so no further explanation will be provided in this article.

18. Line 161: this is too wordy "different planting environment operation conditions " and what are different environmental conditions

We have removed the contentious statements and rephrased the explanation.

19. Line 196: the use of the word " reference " is not correct.

We have reorganized the language and removed incorrect wording.

20. Line 209: why use the word "fresh " when describing a sweet potato combine harvester - the potatoes would always be fresh.

The fresh sweet potato mentioned in this section refers to sweet potatoes that are directly sold and consumed without undergoing factory processing.

21. Line 295: need to refer to table 1 in the text. Also, instead of "tall" under the "cost heading" use " high"

We referenced Table 1 in the text and modified the wording in the table.

22. Line 308: tubers are not fruits - confusing to use "fruits of the crops "

We have chosen more appropriate words.

23. Line 318: Figure 15 - where is this diagram from and the Figure needs to be referred to in the text.

We referenced the content of Figure 15 in the text, which was drawn by the author.

24. Line 329: fruit? No need for the word.

We have selected appropriate words to provide explanations.

25. Line 334 and line 347 and line 360 : Figures 16 and 17 and 18 needs proper citation and to be referred to in the text

We referenced Figure 16, Figure 17, and Figure 18 in the text.

26. Line 364 and 366: " potato growing regions" - potato or sweet potato?

We have revised the wording in question in the article; it should be sweet potato planting area.

27. Lines 424-430: this section is repetitious- it was discussed previously.

This section is similar to 5.1, but the emphasis is different.

28. Line 433: and 无人化- not sure what this means.

We have removed the incorrect wording.

29. section 6. 4: again - good points but needs to be more concise and be sure that the points were not discussed before.

The viewpoint of 6.4 is the current major trend in China's agricultural development. We have combined this viewpoint with the development of sweet potato harvesters through an interpretation of the trend.

30. Line 455: use the heading patents, but patents were not discussed in the paragraph

We removed the incorrect wording and chose appropriate terms.

 

Regarding the issue you raised about the need to improve the quality of the article's English, we have revised the language and details of the article, and have polished the language through MDPI's author services.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The work is important for sweet potato producers and for researchers in the field of agricultural mechanization, in particular, of harvesting machines for root vegetables, where harvesting machines can cause various injuries. It brings new contributions to the knowledge of high-performance harvesting machines, which reduce the rate of tuber damage, based on advanced sensor technology. A sufficient bibliography was studied to present the current state of sweet potato harvesting mechanization in China and other growing countries, different specific machines were presented, including high-performance ones, creating a fairly clear point of view in this field of activity. The presentation is clear.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

We are very grateful for your time spent reviewing our article despite your busy schedule. We feel honored by your comments and suggestions regarding our article, and we have made revisions based on these recommendations and evaluations. Thank you once again!

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Through this revision, the quality of the manuscript has been greatly improved.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

good work on improving the paper