The 24-month programme will take place on farms belonging to Lusomorango producers’ organisation, with trials focusing on Driscoll’s Reyna and Maravilla raspberry varieties and including night harvesting tests to extend operational capacity
Fieldwork Robotics has partnered with the Research Centre for Sustainability, a research consortium constituted by Portugal’s largest berry producers’ organisation Lusomorango, INIAV, Portugal’s National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research, and the companies Driscoll’s and Maravilha Farms, for a new research and development programme.
The programme will take place over 24 months on farms and with growers in the Lusomorango producers’ organisation near São Teotónio in Portugal.
Lusomorango, founded in 2005, counts among its members companies such as Maravilha Farms, Haygrove, and other leading growers in the region, which grow fruit for the Driscoll’s brand.
The Research Centre’s mission is to ease farmers’ challenges by offering solutions to increase efficiency and innovative berry production solutions.
Through this programme, Fieldwork Robotics is aiming to demonstrate the capabilities of its robot in harvesting fresh raspberries, with a specific focus on Driscoll’s Reyna and Maravilla raspberry varieties.
As part of the programme, Fieldwork and the Research Centre for Sustainability will design polytunnel lanes to achieve optimal robotic harvesting performance and improve quality scores.
The AI capabilities of Fieldwork’s technology will be tested to improve its efficiency and precision, and night harvesting will also be trialled to extend the operational utilisation of the robot.
The data collected in this programme will inform early modelling to analyse the economic benefits of Fieldwork’s on-farm operations for growers and assess whether the robotics can improve fruit quality scores.
Additionally, data captured from day and night harvesting will be used to accelerate the development of Fieldwork’s forecasting tools, the group explained.
It pointed out that labour shortages have greatly affected growers in the region, making the programme a key opportunity to explore how Fieldwork’s technology can complement the existing workforce and enable growers to maintain production levels even when labour is scarce.
“This research programme is of significant strategic importance to Fieldwork as we continue to develop the capabilities of our harvesting robot and drive innovation in the raspberry harvesting sector,” said David Fulton, CEO of Fieldwork Robotics.
“I look forward to partnering with the Research Centre for Sustainability team on this project.
“The innovative harvesting methods trialled by the Research Centre have historically been market leading, making this partnership an excellent opportunity for Fieldwork to demonstrate the real-world benefits of its harvesting solution for growers around the world,” Fulton noted.
Joel Vasconcelos, CEO of Lusomorango, on behalf of the Research Centre for Sustainability, commented: “This is undoubtedly an opportunity to generate knowledge aimed at improving the competitiveness of our producers and of the entire agricultural sector.
”Understanding how technology can contribute to a more resilient and efficient operation, even in the fruit-picking process, will be of added value.
”This is the mission of the Research Centre for Sustainability, and we are very pleased with what this partnership with Fieldwork Robotics will bring, not only to Lusomorango’s producers, but also to the entire sector, both nationally and globally,” he added.
