AUTOMATED LASER WEEDING

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Automated laser weeding, an environmentally sound alternative to herbicide use and high labor cost in processing tomato production

The standard practice to eliminate weeds in crop production around the world is the use of agriculture chemicals called herbicides. Its use has been the common alternative to prevent obnoxious weeds from affecting crop yields since the beginning of the Green Revolution, dating back to the 1960s. However, the effect of the excessive use of these chemicals is a negative impact on our environment. For example, herbicides can pollute our surrounding environment through flooding or irrigation drainage, since chemical residues can be leached or moved from nearby farming areas into water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and underground reservoirs. On the other hand, the labor cost of hand weeding is becoming prohibitive for conventional processing tomatoes and posing an even greater challenge in organic tomato production, where use of synthetic herbicides is not allowed.

Laser Weeding Machine

In 2019, the Morning Star Agriculture Research and Development Department started to look for solutions that could help us overcome these challenges. We started a very promising research partnership with ESCARDA Technologies, an agriculture technology company based in Berlin, Germany. Through this collaboration, we have developed a solution in processing tomato crops using an automated laser device that kills weeds without the use of herbicides. The one-row prototype has two main components: 1) a high-tech AI (artificial intelligence) vision system that accurately detects weeds and differentiates them from tomato plants, and 2) a highly accurate laser component that shoots and kills weeds in a matter of milliseconds. Preliminary data obtained during prototype field testing in early June, 2022 was very promising, with both components working seamlessly. However, as in any R&D process, we identified improvement opportunities and are currently working on fine-tuning those aspects. Our aim is to achieve two main goals: laser accuracy and equipment speed. The next step in the field validation process is testing of the final laser weeding box, to be conducted in late October, 2022.

As the project continues its normal development process, Morning Star is excited to further solidify our partnership with the ESCARDA Technologies team. We strongly believe that our tomato grower business partners could benefit from the successful development of this laser weeding technology. Furthermore, we are certain it will provide not only a valuable tool to tomato growers in their fight against weeds, but also an important opportunity to minimize environmental harm through use of chemical herbicides.

Weeds killed by a laser weeder

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GRADIENT CROP YIELD SOLUTIONS IMPLEMENTS SATELLITE CROP IMAGERY

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Satellite Crop Imagery: The Next Tool in Agriculture Technology

The use of crop aerial images to improve agricultural practices is becoming increasingly relevant worldwide. A few years ago, crop images were primarily captured using drones and airplanes; however, these technologies have some limitations with the cost and frequency as you cover more extensive areas. One solution to overcome those limitations is the use of satellite images. In the past, the resolution of satellite images was not comparable to the resolution provided by drones and airplanes. However, image resolution has improved significantly in recent years, and satellite images are now close to 10 and 3 meters per pixel.

Morning Star is now offering high-definition satellite images through Gradient Crop Yield Solutions as part of its agricultural platform, and in 2022 it plans to cover around 23,000 acres across the state. Gradient’s partnership with EOS, a satellite images service provider, made it possible to deliver Morning Star tomato growers with more frequent, high-quality crop images. The algorithms built into the platform include NDVI, NDRE, MSAVI, and several others that provide valuable information related to plant vigor, nitrogen content, maturity, crop consistency, disease/insects’ presence, water stress, etc.

The most common satellite used is Sentinel 2, which provides images up to three times per week. Like any other technology, satellite images also have some limitations, primarily related to weather conditions. For example, the quality and frequency of images can be limited mainly by clouds and smog, which prevents the growers from seeing the state of the crop during specific dates. However, the high frequency of images every two to three days makes it possible to achieve a high-quality image at least once a week when weather conditions are more favorable.

We believe that satellites are the aerial imaging technology of the future for agriculture, especially due to its lower cost and the frequency of images. Precision and resolution will continue to improve rapidly to the point where it is challenging to distinguish satellite from drone or airplane images. Morning Star sees this technology as the future of crop imagery and will continue to provide its Gradient contracted growers with the latest advances so they may improve their decision-making process with the end goal of improving quality and overall profitability.

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A NEW AGRICULTURE SERVICE FOR GROWERS

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CALSUN–GRADIENT Crop Yield Solutions develops novel and efficient irrigation technologies

In recent years, California Agriculture has been affected by a long-term drought that is causing serious productivity and profitability problems to food processors and the farming community. Unfortunately, water scarcity continues, thus bringing restrictions to a critical point in some agriculture production areas. The drastic reductions in water allocations are forcing growers and food processors alike to optimize this valuable natural resource.

Gradient Crop Services Field Monitoring Unit

In response to these challenging times, Morning Star Company is actively supporting agriculture research to find novel and efficient irrigation technologies to assist tomato growers in optimizing water usage. In 2019, the CALSUN- Gradient Crop Yield Solutions business unit was created to be the means to transfer all agriculture innovation generated by the Morning Star Agriculture Research and Development Program. Gradient’s mission is to implement intelligent agriculture technology and data driven solutions in collaboration with growers, assist them in the decision-making process to achieve better crop yields, quality and overall profitability while improving sustainable production practices.

The benefits that Gradient’s technology is providing have been rapidly recognized by tomato growers. Improved yields, water savings ranging in an average of 15% (depending on grower and area), fruit quality, better maturity and less soil compaction during harvest are some of the benefits obtained using our technology.

Gradient has shown steady growth since its inception two years ago, and in 2021, it is projected to provide precision irrigation management services to 18,500 acres of processing tomatoes. Furthermore, new agriculture research developed by Morning Star’s Ag. R&D indicate that its precision irrigation technology can be expanded to other crops such as almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, garlic, peppers, etc. Therefore, additionally to the tomato acreage contracted this year, we will be providing irrigation monitoring services to 1,500 acres of almond trees.

Gradient Crop Yield Solutions Field Training

Field Training with Growers

The future of Cal Sun’s Gradient Crop Yield Solutions could not be any brighter. We are now partnering with high-tech agriculture technology companies around the world to develop artificial intelligence and autonomous robots applied to agriculture. Currently, we have established a partnership with a laser specialist to develop an autonomous weeder machine for tomatoes. If this concept provides the results we expect, this technology could revolutionize how growers eliminate weeds in the field while using fewer herbicides, but most importantly, it could help them to optimize labor cost, improve profitability and be more sustainable.

GRADIENT’S BENEFITS

The plant water stress index model can be a reliable tool to manage tomato irrigation during the growing and development season.

Water savings are variable depending on grower practices, soil type and seasonal weather, but we have observed an average 15% optimization.

Less soil compaction after harvest.

Identification of crop anomalies with IR sensors before they are visible offers an opportunity to make proper adjustments.

Sensors are not the only solution; improvement of culture practices create a compounded impact on crop yields - alertness.

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