Page 6 - AWA Vol.41-No.3

EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE

N.C. PSI Seeds Project to Improve Apple Production

n interdisciplinary North Carolina
AState University team has kicked
off new research exploring whether im-
aging technologies paired with artificial
intelligence might prove useful for apple
farmers.
Seed funding for the Improving Apple
Orchard Management Decisions with
Non-Destructive Technologies project
comes from the North Carolina Plant Sci-
ences Initiative.
The research team hopes that the one-
year project will inform future research
to help farmers increase worker efficien-
cy, improve crop value and reduce food
waste.
Tom Kon, based at the Mountain Horti-
cultural Crops Research and Extension $10,000 in crop value per acre per year. workshop last year.
Center in Mills River, is the project lead- North Carolina has about 250 apple farm- N.C. PSI Executive Director Adrian
er. He is an NC State University associ- ers and 6,000 acres producing roughly 4
ate professor of horticultural science and million bushels of apples a year, making Percy noted that bringing together re-
searchers from different areas of exper-
NC State Extension’s apple specialist for North Carolina the No. 7 state in apple
the southeastern United States. production. tise to solve grand challenges in agri-
culture was the impetus for the N.C. PSI,
Other NC State faculty members on the Beyond the apple industry, the research- and agricultural community needs have
research team are Chenhan Xu, an assis- ers’ findings could benefit production of been, and always will be, central to the
tant professor of computer science with other specialty crops, Kon said. initiative’s research and development
radio-frequency signal processing ex- model.
pertise, and Edgar Lobaton, a professor Still, he cautioned that it’s too early to
of electrical and computer engineering tell. “Events such as Connecting2Grow and
and expert in artificial intelligence with “I just want to see if this technology the involvement of our N.C. PSI Grower
experience in agricultural and biologi- works on the crop of interest and on the Advisory Council have been critical
cal imaging. structures of interest before we get too to ensuring that we facilitate research
and education that aligns with some of
Jeff Chandler, research coordinator for far down the line,” he said. “Because I the agricultural industry’s highest pri-
the N.C. Soybean Producers Association, think that there are too many instances orities,” he said. “This is our third Con-
is also on the team. where there’s an indication that a tech-
nology is ready to go but really it’s not necting2Grow event, and we’re seen sev-
Focusing on labor-intensive stages quite ready for prime time.” eral impactful interdisciplinary research
The project focuses on improving three Project emerges from engagement teams form as a result.”
of the most labor-intensive aspects of ap- of ag community and researchers Accelerating research connections
ple production: pruning when trees are Kon said he’s excited about the poten-
dormant, removing excess flowers and The apple project proposal was re- tial for the collaboration with Xu, Loba-
fruits as the trees grow, and fruit harvest. cently selected from five total research
proposals submitted in December 2024. ton and Chandler to advance his work.
The researchers believe that farmers Feedback from the N.C. PSI’s Grower “What’s neat for me from a plant physi-
could make better decisions at pruning, Advisory Council and others was instru- ology perspective is I also get to under-
thinning and harvest stages if they had mental in selecting the winning propos- stand more about the characteristics of
a way to estimate key characteristics of al. these plant organs that we’re evaluating
buds, fruitlets and mature fruits.
The proposals resulted from N.C. PSI’s and what’s important. Why does one fruit
They plan to test portable, non-invasive Connecting2Grow workshop in October, drop off as compared to another? Or
radio frequency imaging, near-infrared when 39 faculty members, researchers what is the physical characteristic that
and visible (NIR/Vis) spectroscopy to and Extension agents from 18 depart- makes a reproductive bud different than
see they can determine such character- ments in six NC State colleges came that of a vegetative bud?” he said.
istics as water and dry matter content at together with several N.C. commodity “I think each of us on the team is going
the different stages.
group leaders and others in the agricul- to be able to make some advances in our
More long-term research could yield tural community to chart new research own disciplines, and then hopefully the
high return on investment directions for automation for labor effi- sum of the parts is greater than anything
Kon said that the N.C. PSI’s one-time ciency in agriculture. we all would’ve expected otherwise,”
$25,000 investment in the project could Automation and labor were among of Kon said. “I’m grateful that the N.C. PSI
ultimately have important economic im- the top priorities expressed by agricul- has accelerated these connections in a
plications for farmers. tural leaders who’d attended the N.C. way that wouldn’t have been possible
Decisions about thinning alone, he PSI’s Charting a Future: Interdisciplin- otherwise.”
said, can make a difference of $5,000 to ary Research Across N.C. Commodities Circle 4 on enquiry card
4 Vol. 41 No. 3