Automation in Tree Fruit Production: Principles and Practice

314 Pages·2017·12.76 MB·English

by  Qin Zhang

A t F P :
utomAtion in ree ruit roduction
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utomAtion in ree ruit
P : P
roduction rinciPles
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Edited by
Qin Zhang
Washington State University, USA
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Zhang, Qin, 1956- editor.
Title: Automation in tree fruit production : principles and practice / edited by Qin
Zhang.
Description: Boston, MA : CABI, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017022423 (print) | LCCN 2017024618 (ebook) | ISBN
9781780648521 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781780648514 (ePub) | ISBN 9781780648507
(hbk: alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Precision farming. | Farm mechanization. | Fruit trees.
Classification: LCC S494.5.P73 (ebook) | LCC S494.5.P73 A98 2017 (print) | DDC
338.1/74--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017022423
ISBN-13: 978 1 78064 850 7
Commissioning editor: Ward Cooper
Editorial assistant: Rebecca Stubbs / Emma McCann
Production editor: Tim Kapp
Typeset by SPi, Pondicherry, India
Printed and bound in the UK by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow, G46 7UQ
Contents
Contributors vii
1. Tree Fruit Production Automation 1
Qin Zhang
2. The Economics of Perennial Crops’ Production Automation 13
R. Karina Gallardo and David Zilberman
3. Sensing for Stress Detection and High-throughput
Phenotyping in Precision Horticulture 28
Sindhuja Sankaran, Chongyuan Zhang and Afef Marzougui
4. Light Interception and Canopy Sensing for
Tree Fruit Canopy Management 43
Francisco Rojo, Jingjin Zhang, Shrinivasa Upadhyaya and
Qin Zhang
5. Precision Orchard Systems 75
Matthew Whiting
6. Variable Rate Irrigation on Center Pivots 93
R. Troy Peters
7. Precision Technologies for Pest and Disease Management 112
Lav Khot, Gwen-Alyn Hoheisel, Yasin Osroosh and
Reza Ehsani
8. Precision Nutrient Management 134
Gerry Neilsen and Denise Neilsen
9. Precise Crop Load Management 161
Caixi Zhang and Du Chen
v
vi Contents
10. Mechanical Harvest and In-field Handling of Tree Fruit Crops 179
Manoj Karkee, Abhisesh Silwal and Joseph R. Davidson
11. Opportunity of Robotics in Precision Horticulture 234
Thomas Burks, Duke Bulanon and Siddhartha Mehta
Index 293
Contributors
Duke Bulanon, Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho, USA
Thomas Burks, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Du Chen, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Joseph R. Davidson, Washington State University, Richland, Washington,
USA
Reza Ehsani, University of California, Merced, California, USA
R. Karina Gallardo, Washington State University, Puyallup, Washington,
USA
Markus Flury, Washington State University, Puyallup, Washington, USA
Gwen-Alyn Hoheisel, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington,
USA
Manoj Karkee, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
Lav Khot, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
Afef Marzougui, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
Siddhartha Mehta, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Denise Neilsen, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland, British
Columbia, Canada
Gerry Neilsen, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland, British
Columbia, Canada
Yasin Osroosh, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
R. Troy Peters, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
Francisco Rojo, Escuela de Agronomía, Pontificia Universidad Católica
de Valparaíso, Casilla 4-D, Quillota, Chile
Sindhuja Sankaran, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington,
USA
Abhisesh Silwal, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
Shrinivasa Upadhyaya, University of California Davis, Davis, California,
USA
Matthew Whiting, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
vii
viii Contributors
Caixi Zhang, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
Chongyuan Zhang, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington,
USA
Jingjin Zhang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Qin Zhang, Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
David Zilberman, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California,
USA
1
Tree Fruit Production
Automation
Q Z *
in hang
Washington State University, Prosser, Washington, USA
1.1 Introduction
One solution for producing high-quality, high-yield fruit, with minimal
dependence on seasonal human labor, is to create a means for automa-
tous mechanized precision production in orchards. This involves three
key technologies: agricultural automation; mechanization; and precision
farming. Among them, mechanization and precision farming are at the
core of a comprehensive system using automation technologies.
As one of the top-ranked engineering accomplishments of the 20th
century, agricultural mechanization has made revolutionary changes in
field crop production technology and made it possible to achieve high
yields using minimal human labor to meet continuously growing needs
for food, feed, fiber and fuel. To make machines operate efficiently, one
feature of mechanized production is the uniformity of operation in a field.
Even though tree fruit production is quite different from field crop pro-
duction, many of the fundamental mechanization technologies for field
crop production can be used directly or modified for use in tree fruit pro-
duction. The uniformity of mechanized production increases efficiency
at the expense of being able to respond to crop growth variabilities often
caused by inter- or intra-field soil type, fertility and moisture variance.
Precision farming offers a management practice based on observing,
measuring and responding to inter- and intra-field variability in crop
growth, hoping to gain the highest possible either in yields or in economic
returns or in both. The concept of performing field tasks precisely in re-
sponse to crop growth is not new. Our ancestors exercised very small area-
based, if not plant-based, precise farming practices in response to actual
* [email protected]
© CAB International 2018. Automation in Tree Fruit Production: Principles
and Practice (ed. Q. Zhang) 1