{"id":55325,"date":"2022-12-16T11:25:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T22:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/?p=55325"},"modified":"2022-12-16T11:25:46","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T22:25:46","slug":"digital-tree-tag-on-way-for-orchards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/technology\/digital-tree-tag-on-way-for-orchards\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital tree \u2018tag\u2019 on way for orchards"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

New Zealand\u2019s fruit-growing industry will be heading high-tech if a Central Otago businessman has his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebastian Chapman, chief executive and co-founder of FruitMinder, is developing a smart app that will map data from individual fruit trees and enable orchardists to provide specialist care for each plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re building a bit of software that hopefully should give growers a lot of data so they can make more informed decisions on their orchards,\u201d Chapman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology creates a \u201cdigital twin\u201d of each tree, providing it with a GPS tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman said the concept was similar to ear tags on cattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat creates a digital version of the animal and we want to do the same for the trees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GPS tag will hold information about the variety of tree and anything that has happened to that tree over its lifetime, such as growing conditions, treatments, sprays and fertilisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It could also eventually measure a tree\u2019s genetics \u201cso  that over time growers can really increase the assets that are their trees\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was recently given  $44,680 by the Ministry for Primary Industries\u2019 Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund to help with FruitMinder\u2019s development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smart app idea was that of company co-founder Mike Casey, who owns the Forest Lodge Orchard in Cromwell. He had previously worked in the tech industry in Australia and on his return to New Zealand noticed a lack of software support for the horticulture industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMike started talking to me about it and I was like, I used to be a dairy farmer and I could not imagine doing my job without the tags we have on cattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was passionate about the industry so it sort of naturally evolved into where we are at now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman said growers face significant labour costs and the technology will help streamline processes and reduce that input. Individual trees in an orchard of thousands can be identified, and tasks for that tree, such as disease treatment, can be assigned to workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt takes all the guesswork out of it. You don\u2019t have to inspect every single tree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology, which has been under development for about six months, is user friendly and can be operated via cellphone. So far about 10 growers from throughout NZ have got on board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is hoped the technology, which is being trialled in Casey\u2019s cherry orchard, will be available by April 2023 and will eventually be used on \u201canything that grows in a straight line and has even spacing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim is to have the technology used widely across NZ, and to eventually also break into the international market. There is data collection technology available overseas, but it is not as \u201cmultifaceted\u201d as FruitMinder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are a lot of things that are single faceted in their data collection, such as satellite imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you need to store that information against that tree somewhere so you can cross-reference it. What were the growing conditions, weather patterns, fertiliser you put on, when did we prune? All the actions that actually lead up to getting a better yield at the end of the growing season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapman said while the project was still in its infancy he is keen to get as much feedback from the industry as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe aim is to get a better fruit yield consistently for growers, so we can increase the value of the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Smart app for mapping individual trees in testing phase. \n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":55326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Southern Software founder Duncan Faulkner, Mike Casey of Forest Lodge Orchard, and FruitMinder chief executive Sebastian Chapman are behind the FruitMinder app. Photo: FruitMinder","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[60,62],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t