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CQUni develops “game-changing” world-first mango auto-harvester
Vivien Lin
CQUniversity has built the world’s first mango auto-harvester and is working to take this technology to commercial-ready deployment.
The prototype harvester takes approximately five seconds to harvest a mango, from detection to placement. During field trials held at Yeppoon in Queensland, the first prototype achieved 75 per cent efficiency in automatically identifying and picking fruit in view.
The equipment was developed as part of a RND4Profit Commonwealth-funded research project led by Horticulture Innovation , an industry R&D corporation.
Speaking at this week’s Australian Mango Industry Association conference in Darwin, CQUniversity Professor Kerry Walsh stated the aim is now to improve the harvester’s performance to over 90 per cent efficiency of fruit in view, increase its speed and refine its construction to reduce costs.
“The auto-harvester has the potential to solve some of the major labour force issues that currently limit the industry,” said Professor Walsh. “The end goal is to save costs and improve productivity on farms, while driving consumer demand by ensuring a top-quality eating experience every time.”
Professor Walsh and his team previously developed a near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements system to assess the eating quality of mangoes and predict the ideal time for harvest. The mango industry has since adopted this technology.
Ian Groves of Groves Grown Fruit, who hosted the first field trials of the prototype auto-harvester, has labelled the technology “game-changing.”
“The machinery identifying and counting fruit in the orchard turned out to be within just a few per cent of the actual number of fruit in the entire block last year,” says Mr Groves.
“That technology is also able to measure the size range of that fruit and so knowing how much fruit is in that block, knowing when it’s going to be mature and knowing the size of the fruit, means we can schedule our workforce, order the right number of cartons, the size of the inserts going into those cartons – this could be a real game changer, not only for our farm but for the entire industry.”
Professor Walsh’s next phase of research will investigate ways to mount the auto-harvester on a terrestrial drone to operate autonomously, at faster speeds and higher accuracies.
You see the auto-harvester in action here.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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