The University of Lincoln’s 200ha Riseholme Campus strawberry research farm is using AI and robotics to find solutions to key issues in farming and food production.
Among other agricultural and horticultural research facilities, the strawberry research farm is where a significant amount of research and development into agricultural robotics is carried out.
“We try to make our strawberry research farm as commercially representative as possible. We grow on a tabletop system under plastic, and the whole site is controlled via a PIP irrigation system,” explained Jonathan Trotter, research project co-ordinator at the University of Lincoln.
“Crucial to this style of growing is the use of high-quality coir grow bags.
“Precision Plus Ultra Botanicoir grow bags have been donated to extend the longevity of our research.
“A stable and consistent growing media is essential when conducting trials and research.
“The bags are great to work with and I’ve found they hydrated much more quickly than other bags we have used before,” he said.
“For the UVC light treatment trials we use arch shaped robots developed by Saga Robotics, which drive over the rows, applying UVC light to the crops while they move along, targeting and treating Powdery Mildew, one of the biggest disease threats to strawberry production.”
“Some of our robots count flowers, visualise how many berries are green and can work out how long they’ll take to become ripe.”
“They can even predict the weight of an individual berry before it’s picked,” said Jonathan.
“Projecting the yield means increased supply chain efficiency because farmers can predict what labour will be required to pick the fruit.
“Some of our PHD students are currently working with this information to then furthermore better place pickers in higher density areas.”
