New solutions in the horticultural industry

Abstract

The paper discusses the issues of increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of the production of fruits and berries, which largely depends on the level of automation and digitalization of manufacturing processes. Due to the lack of serial domestic dedicated machines fitted with the automation of a number of planting, care and harvesting operations in horticulture, Russian farmers are forced to purchase and use foreign equipment. Many foreign companies that are manufacturers of agricultural machinery use current technological solutions in their projects, such as artificial intelligence, computer vision, data analysis, etc. From seventy to eighty percent of foreign agricultural machines are equipped with sensors and automatic systems. Robotic tools are used to pick fruits and berries such as common garden strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) and hautbois strawberry (Fragaria moschata). At the same time, the robot can find fruits, determine the degree of ripeness, carefully pick and place them into a container. Russian companies are beginning to actively introduce digital technology in the development of modern technical means, including those intended for horticulture. An urgent area in the development of digital technology in agriculture is the use of mobile applications that allow reducing the cost of production, overdue, etc. Mobile online applications can contain the coordinates of fields, types of crops planted, data from past harvests and recommendations for subsequent operations taking into account the analysis of many current factors. The applications combine data from sensors of agricultural machinery, drones, satellites, etc. Field navigators allow for the use of precision farming technology even in poor visibility conditions. Artificial intelligence-based programs offer solutions, recommendations and consultations.