WATSONVILLE — A farmworker turned inventor who previously created a device that streamlines berry picking has further modified his creation to allow for easy set up and transportation.
Rosendo Garcia has demonstrated his invention to the Pajaronian several times throughout the years, from its inception and through several modifications.
After again modifying it — this time to allow for easy setup, storage and transportation — Garcia now hopes to find an agriculture company that wants to buy his devices.
Garcia, who works as a berry picker, said he came by the idea in 2013 when, in a moment of inspiration, he used a warehouse dolly to haul around his berry-picking table.
After that, Garcia bought a metal dolly at the flea market and welded a metal frame to it to hold cartons and trays. He said the device streamlines the picking process by allowing workers to carry several flats at once.
The device, which he calls RG79, can be set up in about two minutes, and adjusts to the workers’ height. It also folds like an accordion and easily stacks for transportation on a trailer.
“It is very easy,” he said through a Spanish translator.
Garcia also invented a device that rolls between strawberry rows and allows workers to sit while they harvest.
