Improving efficiency of commercial wild blueberry harvester using precision agriculture technologies

The overall objective of the proposed initiative is to develop an automated integrated harvesting system. The system will identify the sources of harvest losses in order to improve berry picking efficiency of the existing wild blueberry harvester. The current commercial wild blueberry harvester experiences 15 to 25% yield loss. By increasing harvesting efficiency of harvester the socio-economic benefit to the Atlantic provinces and Quebec would be substantial as the wild blueberry industry is a major contributor in these regions. Reliable harvesting technologies over the long term should assist with continued industry expansion leading to increased employment opportunities in the production and manufacturing processing sectors. The proposed research will train highly qualified personnel (graduate and undergraduate student and postdoctoral fellow) and the continuing "life long" applied education of producers and industry representatives. Wild blueberry growers set a goal to increase the harvestable yields by 33%. To achieve this, the technology based products and processes proposed in this project include; (i) quantify and characterize soil, plant and machine parameters responsible for fruit losses with the existing wild blueberry harvester using precision agriculture technologies and bio-systems modeling techniques; (ii) examine the factors, their interactions and suitable combinations to minimize fruit losses during operation; (iii) replace old technology with newly developed innovative integrated harvesting system and (iv) redesign existing commercial wild blueberry harvester components to increase harvestable fruit yield and quality. This proposal is part of a multidisciplinary research effort at the Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University in collaboration with Doug Bragg Enterprises, Collingwood, Nova Scotia. This collaboration between industry and researchers was initiated to develop innovative and viable techniques to enhance berry picking efficiency, assist with the stabilization of yields over time, and increase farm profitability.