On 9 September, AgriFutures growAG. and Hort Innovation co-hosted a webinar with UK-based AgriTech E, focusing on innovation needs in Australia's horticulture sector and opportunities for international collaboration. The session introduced the growAG. platform and featured insights from an Australian orchard manager on key production challenges.
Labour and mechanisation in orchards
Mark Trzaskoma, Production Manager at Battunga Orchards in West Gippsland, Victoria, manages 176 hectares of apples, pears, and lemons. He emphasised that skilled labour is the main challenge. "Labour is a big problem – especially skilled labour. Unskilled labour is becoming increasingly unskilled. Current training focuses on amenity horticulture – home gardens – not large-scale commercial operations," he said.
Mechanisation has replaced ladders with orchard platforms for pruning, thinning, and harvesting. Revo platforms, with conveyor belts and bin fillers, have improved workflow, though not all technologies trialled have been successful. In 2015, a trial of an American robotic apple harvester achieved a 76% removal rate, but lacked the capacity to match manual pickers.
Data-driven decisions
Automated data collection has proven more effective. Battunga Orchards uses the Canadian-developed Vivid Machines canopy scanner across 30% of its orchard blocks. The scanner provides fruit counts, sizes, bud numbers, and growth rates, with yield estimates closely matching final harvests. Trzaskoma noted that "one block's estimate was within two or three bins of the final tally."
He also highlighted irrigation as an area for improvement. Despite having modern systems in place, monitoring still relies on manual probes. With water supply tightening during drought years, he pointed to advanced irrigation technology as an important step for future resilience.
Grower identity and imports
Beyond production, Trzaskoma argued that the fresh produce sector would benefit from greater grower visibility in export markets. "It's one of the only industries in the world where the people who do it well aren't known. Nobody knows the growers – who's good and who isn't. For export, if growers were known more, buyers could search them out," he said, pointing to traceability tools such as branding and QR codes.
He also cautioned that imported technologies are not always suited to Australian conditions. "Too often, something's imported without proper local testing or limited backup service. We need technology that's fit-for-purpose here, not just in a Northern Hemisphere orchard," he added.
Source: AgriFutures growAG