Support of the French Tobacco Sector in Utilization of a Recently Developed High Capacity Market Preparation System for Air-cured Burley Tobacco

ARVALIS is the agency in France which promotes and assists growers in production of grain crops and other commodities, including tobacco. ARVALIS seeks the assistance of Dr. Larry Wells, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, in transferring labor]saving technology for harvesting and marketing burley tobacco. Dr. Wells agrees to facilitate market preparation of burley tobacco in France using the Cured Plant Segmenting/Separation System (CP3S) developed by the University of Kentucky by: 1. Developing procedures and equipment to facilitate retrieving and transporting whole burley plants cured in conventional French barns using conventional wagons, trailers and drying containers. 2. Developing procedures and equipment to facilitate retrieving and transporting whole burley plants cured in mechanically]harvested curing frames, including use of drying containers. 3. Developing procedures and equipment to facilitate feeding plants into the CP3S from conventional transporting equipment, drying containers and mechanically]filled rails or curing frames.