The Technology
There is a need to control the amount of flowering on apple trees – too many will result in too many low quality apples. Chemical thinning is currently the only viable solution in large commercial operations to ensure adequate yield. However, most thinners are effective only in the first few weeks following bloom and thinning efficiency depends on numerous factors and is difficult to predict.
The window to dilute and control the apple flowering is narrow and is done during the fruitlet phase. After initial thinning procedure the grower should quickly decide if a second procedure is required and estimate what would be the fruitlet drop.
Using in-situ spectroscopy in the visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) range to forecast fruitlets drop rate help the grower perform corrections with the subsequent application.
Advantages
- Accurate measure of the chances of fruitlet drop after first thinning procedure
- High quality produce
- Improve second thinning procedure method, materials concentration
Applications and Opportunities
- Apple growing
Business Development Contacts