Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research
Project Number: 2038-22000-019-044-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2023
End Date: Jul 31, 2024
Objective:
The objective is to optimize strawberry yield data collection using the modified harvesting cart that strawberry pickers use with custom designed software to automate data processing. This effort will support research projects on management of soilborne diseases by collecting precision yield data in different treatment blocks.
Approach:
Harvesting carts used by strawberry pickers (carritos) have been modified with GPS trackers, load cells and data loggers to measure the weight of strawberries harvested and correlate this with the position in the field. Software was developed to automate data download from the carritos and generate a map demonstrating yield differences in the field. The technology will be further optimized to automate the process of data download and analysis (generation of yield maps). Collaboration with remote sensing collaborators helps to determine the relationship between vegetation indices and yield.
