In Illinois, researchers at the University of Illinois used mathematics to prove the potential for financial rewards by applying precision agriculture techniques to hand-picked and specialty crops. High-value, hand-picked crops are significantly more valuable per acre than row crops, but most mechanization has been for row crops. Unlike machine-harvested crops, harvesting of hand-picked crops varies from worker to worker and by time of day as workers become hot and fatigued.
“A hundred acres of corn may have a value of just $800,000, while the same number of acres planted in strawberries may be worth $7.5 million,” said Devasia Manuel, a recent Illinois alumnus. “Yet, strawberry harvesters use little to no precision agriculture techniques. It’s quite astonishing.”
The team observed workers harvesting strawberries on Crisalida Farms in Oxnard, California and then explored a mathematical model for determining the optimal time for transporting a strawberry crop from the field to cold storage.