AgTech solution to sweeten pineapple picking
Wide Bay pineapple grower Jeff Atkinson has a strong track record in using engineering and technology to enhance his farm business.
An experienced grower of sugarcane, pineapples, soybeans and cotton, Jeff already uses an integrated GPS-supported controlled traffic farming system across his operation. He also gains efficiencies by transferring technology, practices, and learnings from one crop to another.
More recently, Jeff has been developing an AgTech solution to select and pick his pineapples. He has modified his Terex harvester lifting and widening it to enable him to pick his pineapple crop along his standard 2m wide rows.
Jeff is now designing and installing camera technology to the front of the harvester to detect when pineapples are ready to be picked; taking only the fruit at the targeted or optimum sugar level from the field, and leaving the green fruit to mature until the next pass.
Recently Jeff was awarded a $19,000 seed grant through Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG’s) ‘Grow Your Field’ funding opportunity to help make his AgTech vision a reality.
On the surface, one might struggle to join the dots, but Jeff believes his ‘pick and leave’ automated harvester will be the holy grail to meeting increasing consumer demand for pineapples.
“Currently, Aussies are eating on average one pineapple each year, if we can make that two, we won’t be able to keep up with demand,” he said.
Jeff said optimising the time of harvest is key.
“At the moment, we’re hand-picking pineapples based on their colour, and even a well-trained eye can sometimes pick the fruit before they’re sweet,” he explained.
“Pineapples don’t continue to ripen after they’re harvested, so if the consumer’s one pineapple a year isn’t sweet, ripe and perfect, it’s hard to get them to come back for more.”
With the camera technology Jeff is looking to install on his pineapple harvester, it will mean the fruit is picked based on sugar content - that way, only the sweetest fruit will be picked every time.
This technology also provides a means to manage Jeff’s workforce more safely and efficiently. Pineapples are a spiky, large plant requiring heavy duty PPE. Jeff’s ‘pick and leave’ technology will also ensure his workers won't need to be sweating it out in the field.
“Picking more fruit means we’ll have more packing work to offer. Sitting in the shade of the packing shed with a breeze makes a happier, safer workforce than walking the rows picking on a 35-degree day,” he said.
Over the next 12 months, we will be working alongside Jeff Atkinson and the other ‘Grow Your Field’ seed funding recipients, documenting their project journeys, and showcasing their contributions to the future of Queensland horticulture.
