Syngenta Vegetable Seeds has collaborated with Four Growers, Inc. to test the ‘GR-100’ robotic harvester in tomato research to maximize tomato output in the future.
Most of today’s tomatoes are still picked by hand, which adds significantly to manufacturing expenses, as well as the growing issue of the labor shortage. Growers must find methods to guarantee that customers have access to the tomatoes they require in light of the severe labor shortages.
“The robot sees the tomato, identifies its ripeness, decides whether or not to pick it. If it decides to pick it, it’ll go up suck it in to the vacuum system, pass through the tube and drops it into a crate. Then the crate will get shifted into the packing cart”, explained Zack Walker, field engineer with Four Growers.
Image Credit: Syngenta Vegetable Seeds
