Smart scanning system to detect fruit size, colour and possible defects

For immediate release

Vineland Station ON, 13 September 2021 - Ontario’s tender fruit and apple growers have joined forces with a local agtech company to further develop its smartphone-powered computer vision system for Ontario tree fruit.

Ontario Tender Fruit and Ontario Apple Growers are working with Kingston, Ontario-based Croptracker to expand their Harvest Quality Vision (HQV) system with new crop load and defect detection tools.

These enhancements to the HQV system will enable scanning of both harvested and unharvested fruit to identify possible defects. As well, growers will be able to scan fruit growing in their orchards early in the growing season to determine size and colour accuracy, which will greatly improve the accuracy of yield and harvest timing predictions.

“An enhanced Harvest Quality Vision system will help growers have more consistent, higher quality fruit and less reliance on manual processes,” says Ontario Tender Fruit Growers Chair Phil Tregunno. “For many growers, labour represents the biggest share of their cost of production and adding automation will help offset some of those costs.”

Harvest Quality Vision uses artificial intelligence to determine fruit size, colour and crop load. Growers are automatically alerted if it finds deviations from any acceptable standards. Not only does this eliminate time-consuming manual inspection of harvested fruit, but it also lets growers and field/orchard managers respond to crop load issues, quality defects or disease issues before the fruit is packed.

“This smart technology will let us respond more quickly to crop load problems, quality defects or disease issues not just before harvested fruit is packed, but also even while the crop is still growing in the orchard,” adds Ontario Apple Growers Vice Chair Brian Rideout. “It’s another tool for growers to ensure we’re producing and delivering the best quality local fruit for consumers.”

HQV is the latest addition to the Croptracker software system, which traces its roots back to the Ontario apple industry and growers needing a tool to automate tracking crop protection applications in their orchards. Apple Tracker, Fruit Tracker and Nursery Tracker were ultimately combined into Croptracker, which offers traceability, record-keeping, scheduling, employee communication and analytics, and reporting capabilities.

“We have a long history of partnership with Ontario fruit growers and our collaborations with the industry and with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs have been essential to the growth and success of Croptracker over the last decade,” says Croptracker Founder and Chief Technology Officer Matthew Deir.

The project is funded in part by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year provincial-territorial initiative.

The Ontario Apple Growers represents the province’s 215 commercial apple farmers. Visit https://www.onapples.com.

The Ontario Tender Fruit Growers is a not-for-profit, independent farming organization governed by grower members. Visit https://www.ontariotenderfruit.ca.

Croptracker, Inc. develops award-winning farm management software solutions for industry leaders. Its mission is to make crop production safer, more efficient, and more profitable. For more information, visit https://www.croptracker.com.

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For more information:

Phil Tregunno, Chair – Ontario Tender Fruit Growers, 905-984-0437 or ptregunno@talkwireless.ca

Sarah Marshall, Manager - Ontario Tender Fruit Growers, 905-687-0867 or sarah@ontariotenderfruit.ca

Brian Rideout, Vice Chair - Ontario Apple Growers, 519-365-5428 or brian.rideout@live.ca

Kelly Ciceran, General Manager – Ontario Apple Growers, 905-6870-0874 or kciceran@onapples.com

Jeff Chemeres, Chief Strategy Officer – Croptracker, Inc., 416-908-8672 or jeff@croptracker.com