Brazil’s Harvest+ project coordinator, Efraim Albrecht, recently traveled to Europe in search of mechanized and semi-mechanized solutions to improve citrus harvesting in Brazil. Harvest+ seeks to establish partnerships with companies that develop equipment and technologies that serve Brazilian orchards. It also seeks to contact universities and research centers that have innovative projects.
In Seville, Spain, Move Agro’s coordinator and process specialist, Marcella Freitas, visited the Andalusian Institute for Research and Training in Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Organic Production (IFAPA). Move Agro and another company, Agricef, are partners with Fundecitrus in the Harvest+ project. On this visit, a partnership was signed to carry out tests with the equipment that will be manufactured for orange harvesting. IFAPA develops research focused on the conditions of orchards, as well as being a pioneer in the area of digital solutions for citrus.
Albrecht said a visit was also made to Hacienda Moratalla, the largest citrus juice farm in Europe. “There we carried out some tests and learned more about the operation of Oxbo equipment, an American machine that harvests the fruits and stands out for being used on large plants,” he said.
In addition, Albrecht visited the Agro Food Park in Aarhus, Denmark, a business-driven ecosystem led by Aarhus University, which brings together more than 85 agricultural and food companies.
Albrecht also visited PKE Automotive in Logatec, Slovenia, a company specializing in military solutions. It was selected as one of the companies that has the potential to develop solutions that make robotic harvesting possible in Brazil, because it already works with robots that harvest apples.
“We presented the engineers with the demands of the Brazilian citrus industry and, based on the apple harvester, a solution aimed at orange orchards will be developed,” Albrecht said. “This would be an important advancement in the development of a solution for robotic citrus harvesting. When this new concept is ready, we will send it for testing in Seville, considering a next stage of testing in Brazil. With this, we will save time and resources.”
“We continue to search for mechanized solutions for the citrus harvesting process in Brazil,” Albrecht said. “New partnerships and proposals will be evaluated, and we will soon begin new tests.”
Source: Fundecitrus
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