Japanese conglomerate to help develop and deploy automated solutions for indoor strawberry production
Sumitomo Corporation has entered into a capital and business alliance with HarvestX, which has developed a robot capable of automatically pollinating strawberries and is advancing automated cultivation solutions for plant factories by leveraging AI and robotics.
HarvestX integrates AI and robotics to develop automated cultivation solutions for indoor vertical farms, including pollination and harvesting.
The company’s pollination robots use cameras and 3D image analysis to identify flowers requiring pollination and perform the process automatically. While bee pollination typically achieves around a 70 per cent success rate, HarvestX said its robots consistently exceed 90 per cent, contributing to stable crop yields.
The technology is currently being applied to strawberry cultivation and is expected to support the stable, year-round supply of premium-quality strawberries meeting Japanese standards both domestically and overseas markets.
Looking ahead, the company is also exploring applications for other pollination-dependent crops such as melons, kiwifruit and tomatoes.
Sumitomo Corporation has been working to realise sustainable food production that balances reduced environmental impact with stable supply and the investment in HarvestX forms part of these ongoing efforts.
Sumitomo Corporation and HarvestX have already begun collaborating with a Malaysian company on plans to cultivate strawberries locally, and are exploring potential partnerships with a major airline, among other initiatives, to support overseas expansion.
Going forward, the two companies will seek to expand their business both in Japan and internationally, centred on the provision of seedlings, equipment and automated systems, while also leveraging the extensive network the Sumitomo Corporation Group offers, including its offices located across the globe.
