10-11 November 2018 The future of horticultural mechanizationCucurbit automatic grafting machine....

28th Members’ Meeting of the Club of BolognaBologna, November 10-11, 2018

The future of horticultural mechanization

28th Members’ Meeting of the Club of Bologna

New technologies and services for agricultural machinery:challenges and limits

10-11 November 2018Bologna, Italy

Silvana NicolaUniversity of Turin, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences(Turin), Italy. [email protected]

Silvana NicolaISHS Past Vice PresidentISHS Secretarywww.ishs.org

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ishs.org/


Introduction:horticulture


PAST PRESENT FUTURE …. ?

What is the future of horticulture?


Horticulture is a complex system because of the diverse cultural systems, great variety of species and cultivars, and extended large variability of soil and climatic conditions


USA

Horticulture is not only about hard labor and dependent on the vagaries of climate


The Netherlands

Horticulture is also high tech production


The Netherlands

Horticulture is standardized propagation

… and intensive production



Transplant production was in the farm


The Netherlands

Horticulture is now an impressive nursery industry


Covers were basic and inefficient


Horticulture is now an intensive protected production

Turkey

Italy

Spain


Where is automation

in Horticulture?


Automation is in the nursery industry


From manual grafting…


To automatic grafting



Planting in the past



Planting



Advanced Planting

Production

Gutters automatically lift



Production


Harvesting


Harvesting baby-leaf salad in the greenhouse

HORTECH – Horticultural Technology www.hortech.it

Slide adapted from Errol W. Hewett, Massey University

http://www.hortech.it/


Harvesting baby leaf vegetablesin the field

HORTECH – Horticultural Technology www.hortech.itSlide adapted from Errol W. Hewett, Massey University

http://www.hortech.it/


Lettuce harvesting and field packing


Harvesting

Tomato for processing harvesting


Tomato harvesters

CTM self propelled tomato harvester Johnston self propelled tomato harvesterSlide adapted from Errol W. Hewett, Massey University


Kenya

Automation is in postharvest handling facilities


Automation is in processing facilities


Automation is in processing facilities

La Linea Verde, Italy


Why and what in the

future?


Are fruit and vegetables too cheap!

Slide courtesy of Errol W. Hewett, Massey University


Labor a major cost for horticulture


• Nearly 50% of production costs for fruit are for hired labor

• Intensive horticultural crops require much more skilled labor than broad scale agriculture


Drivers for mechanization and automation


• Labor problems - a major driver for increased automation and mechanization.

• Cost of labor – is it really too high? Minimum wage is $7.25 – 9.00/hour? USA has lowest minimum federal wage in OECD countries.

• Availability of skilled labor not always available when needed.

• Mechanization will reduce crop losses by harvesting when product is ready.

• Machines with sensors are objective and product throughput can be consistently monitored.

• Uniform quality of output.• Competition in production from low cost labor countries

will drive innovative technology to increase profits.


Example: Harvesting is labor intensive


• Availability – crop must be harvested at optimum maturity. Seasonality

• Skilled harvest hands understand fragility of product

• Humans harvest faster than machines for many crops

• Potential to reduce labor costswith machines

• Will changes in immigrationlaws in many countries affect labor market?


Robots in Horticulture: several uses


• Nurseries and greenhouses• Parks and golf courses• In the field; monitoring• Mechanical aids• Mechanization and machines• Postharvest

* Picking/harvesting* Grading and sorting* Packing* Accumulation


Many types of robots


Communication robots; no hands so no use in horticulture


Small autonomous machines would be more efficient to replace the traditional large tractors. ADVANTAGES: able to carry out useful tasks all year round unattended able to behave sensibly in a semi-natural environment over long

periods of time less environmental impact replacing the over-application of

chemicals and fertilizers requiring lower usage of energy better control matched to requirements causing less soil compaction due to lighter weight

Future: smart machines


MF-Scamp robots for scouting (Designed by Blackmore. Copyright©2008 AGCO Ltd)

Prototypes

Autonomous Plant Inspection (API) Research Platform designed by Danish institute of Agricultural Science (DIAS)


MF-Scamp robots for weeding and harvesting (Designed by Blackmore. Copyright©2008 AGCO Ltd)

Robotrac by Valtra. Remote controlled


Harvester robot


Microbots for pathogen control?


Future applications?

• Microbots for disease control

• Systemic distribution of selective natural biocides through vascular system

• Targeting viruses, fungi or bacteria

• Nanotechnology has to be developed for plants


Advanced automatic vegetable grafting machines

Cucurbit automatic grafting machine. 800 plants/hr at 95% success rate

Tomato automatic grafting machine 1000 plants/hr at >95% rate


Greenhouse robot sprayersWorker safety and precision application

Robotic sprayer

Robot sprayer for greenhouses.



Crop monitoring

• Octocopter• Carries sensors and

cameras for aerial surveillance

• Crop loads, stress conditions – including water, nutrient, harvest maturity, pest and disease load



Lettuce harvester

• Mainly for large growers >1,000 acres

• Can provide return on investment in 1 year

• Reduced labor costs by 50%

• Many processes automated increasing operator efficiency

http://www.growingproduce.com/article/23895/vision-systems-optimize-performanceSlide adapted from Errol W. Hewett, Massey University

http://www.growingproduce.com/article/23895/vision-systems-optimize-performance


Instrumented glove for fruit quality

• Developed as harvesting aid by French scientists

• Equipped with non-destructive miniature sensors and artificial intelligence

• Measures color, sugars, firmness,

• Programmed to specific attributes and enables picker to make objective decisions.

• Not commercialized



Harvesting aids

• Pneumatic branch shaker• Used for cherries and

apples• Fruit falls onto collecting

surface • Physical damage an issue

– fruit hits branches, other fruit or surface of catching frame



Strawberry robotic harvesting

• Fruit very perishable• Physical damage a

problem with mechanical harvesting

• Damage leads to ethylene production, to infection sites for fungi and rapid deterioration

• Selectivity –challenge to find all berries on plant

• Cost and speed are ongoing issues

• Not commercial yetSlide adapted from Errol W. Hewett, Massey University


A modern packhouse


Automatic sorting of multiple quality attributes

• High tech sensors with very fast response times

• Fast, accurate segregation based on preset quality parameters – size, density, shape, colour, surface defects, sugars.

• Measures 14 fruit per second per lane

• 10,080,000 individual fruit per 20 hour day for 10 lanes.

• No labor problems with machines


Increased automation

Up to 10 lanes in large packhouses Robotic pallet wrapper


Robots in the packhouse

Robotic pallet stacker Robotic bin stacker


Robotic fruit packing

• Mechanization will progress for harvesting and handling

• Robots will become more sophisticated and accurate for repetitive tasks

• Robots will become increasingly self learning – adapting to changing conditions


• XSENSE® system by Stepac [Now BT9 intelligent supply chain solutions]

• Records temperature and relative humidity automatically at short intervals for precise monitoring.

• Purfresh Transport• Ozone technology for in

transit preservation• Constant storage remote

environment monitoring and management

Supply chain monitoring and traceability


Autonomous robots in orchard• Battery operated fully

autonomous robot• Programmed to travel each

row using internal sensor package and smart software

• Scans vines to measure buds, flowers and fruitlets

• Calculates eventual crop load and yield.

• Targets flowers for pollen application

• Targets each fruit for remote harvesting

Autonomous Multipurpose Mobile Platform for harvesting fruit (Photos from Robotics Plus Ltd. Te Puke, New Zealand.http://www.roboticsplus.co.nz/our-story

http://www.roboticsplus.co.nz/our-story


Drones in horticulture

• Drones can measure soil conditions and plant growth and development

• Can plant seeds accurately

• Sensors can monitor status of plant minerals, soil water, light penetration, pest and disease load.

• Crops can be sprayed or fertiliser added only where needed and growth monitored.


Swarms of dronesPotential to revolutionise horticulture?

Spray chemicals very accurately

Measure plant status,moisture, mineral elements, growth, disease

Remove weeds

Map affected areas and bring in appropriate corrective solutions

Hone in on target area.


• Pressure will continue for producers to reduce costs of production, harvesting and packing produce.

• Supermarkets will continue to manipulate prices received for their benefit and not the producers. Are growers forced to sell produce too cheap?

• Labor costs will continue to increase and drive further mechanization, automation and robotics.

• Costs of technology reducing; more sophisticated, accurate and faster machines are being developed and functional robots are just around the corner for fruit and vegetable systems.

Conclusions


Conclusions

• Crucial that multidisciplinary research, involving plant scientists, engineers, food scientists, economists and marketing expertise is focused on creating new production systems.

• Innovation will come through intimate understanding of all parts of the system.

• Growing systems will be designed for specific crops and then dedicated machines will fit.


Thank you very much for your attention!

“To Nurture and DeployScientific Growing KnowledgeFor Creating a better World”

10-11 November 2018 The future of horticultural mechanizationCucurbit automatic grafting machine....

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