New techniques for precision fruit growing are used to improve the productivity, efficiency and sustainability of fruit growing companies. Implementing precision fruit growing requires significant investments in technology. Fruit growers need facts and figures about economic returns and payback periods. Luuk Tijssen, a student at the HAS in Den Bosch and son of a fruit grower in Altforst, developed a calculation model to map the financial benefits of precision fruit growing at company level. This way it can be calculated for each fruit grower how interesting it is to invest.
Technical innovation in fruit growing
Precision fruit growing involves a range of advanced techniques, including the use of drones, GPS and camera techniques, to collect accurate data from orchards. Munckhof Fruit Tech Innovators is a pioneer in developing these technologies for use in fruit growing. By using drone recordings and new data processing techniques, they can collect detailed information about parameters such as blossom density, vigour and the number and size of fruits picked at tree level. Munckhof integrates this data from the orchard with its spraying installations, root cutter and harvesting machines. This enables fruit growers to produce a homogeneous crop with a higher yield and quality.
Higher yields and savings on costs
Data from the orchard can be used in various ways to achieve better economic results in the short and longer term. Drone recordings of blossom density, for example, in combination with GPS technology, can be converted into digital task maps for controlling the precision sprayer and root cutter. Automatically counting the number of picked fruits per tree provides valuable information for developing even better cultivation plans. With this information, fruit growers can make accurate decisions about spraying products and pruning roots for each individual fruit tree. By translating these into automatic task cards for the sprayer and root cutter, every treatment for every tree can be carried out in exactly the right way. This results in better yield and quality, while at the same time saving on spraying agents and labour. In addition, precision spraying of the pear bud beetle, for example, maintains better biodiversity and, with correct blossom thinning, reduces the natural seasonal sensitivity for the following year.
Luuk Tijssen’s calculation model
Luuk Tijssen, a Business Administration and Agribusiness student at HAS, has developed a calculation model to quantify the economic benefits of precision fruit growing. For his research, he collected data from Fruit 4.0 from Wageningen WUR, fruit growers, Rabobank and fruit growing consultants. He focused on establishing the financial benefits of precision fruit growing in terms of yields per hectare, yields per kilo and savings in resources and labour. The calculation model takes various parameters into account, including fruit varieties and company size. He focused the calculation model on the three most important techniques for precision fruit growing: spraying, root cutting and automatic harvest registration during picking. Luuk’s research shows that investments in precision fruit growing are economically most beneficial for varieties that are sensitive to thinning and/or rotation years, such as Elstar, Kanzi, SPRANK, Gala and Golden Delicious. For example, one of the companies he interviewed has 18 hectares of apples, half of the varieties of which are thinning and/or fruit sensitive. A GPS application on the sprayer and the root knife can be recouped within a year. The payback period for an M-Connect data connection for harvest registration is approximately four years for this situation.
Application of the calculation model by Munckhof in practice
Munckhof Fruit Tech Innovators is enthusiastic about Luuk Tijssen’s calculation model. “We already know a lot about precision fruit growing in general. Precision fruit growing requires an investment in terms of time and money. Every fruit company is different, not only in terms of size, but especially because of the difference and combination of fruit varieties that are grown. For Munckhof, Luuk Tijssen’s calculation model is a godsend. They and their customers will use it to calculate the economic benefits and payback periods of precision fruit growing techniques. By entering the correct company data, fruit growers gain insight into the potential profitability of investments in precision fruit growing. The calculation model provides insight into investments in precision fruit growing. It facilitates decision-making and minimises risks. It enables fruit growers to manage their capital more efficiently and optimise their operational performance.” If you are interested, please contact Joris Jans or Vincent Sanders of Munckhof for more details and application to your company.
