Mechanising dried grape pruning
Project title:
Technical innovations for the winter pruning operation for dried vine fruit
Information and objectives:
Dried Fruits Australia and Mallee Regional Innovation Centre partner La Trobe University collaborated on the development of a self-guided mechanical pruning system.
The project aimed to speed up the winter pruning process and reduce the need for manual labour, which would improve the profitability of dried grape production.
Winter pruning is one of the biggest time and labour consuming activities in dried grape production. The requirement for manual pruning increases costs and limits the scale of production.
A robotic punning prototype was developed by La Trobe researchers Associate Professor Robert Ross and Dr Matt Felicetti and trialled in the Mildura region over the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The industry has continued working on the system with support from La Trobe researchers since the project finished.
Project funding:
Dried Fruits Australia, AusIndustry Innovation Connections Grant
Project collaborators:
Dried Fruits Australia, La Trobe University, Mallee Regional Innovation Centre
Status:
Completed (November 2022)
Project lead:
Dried Fruits Australia
03 5023 5174
admin@driedfruitsaustralia.org.au
Associate Professor Robert Ross
Director, RAMPS Research Laboratory
Department of Engineering
La Trobe University
Resources:
- Mechanical pruner field trials and demonstrations, Dried Fruits Australia YouTube channel
- Mechanical pruner in action, MRIC newsletter, August 2023
- Engineering for a better future, MRIC newsletter, August 2022
- Dried fruit growers near successful development of machine pruning to reduce huge labour costs, ABC News, May 2022
- Innovations in dried grape vine pruning, MRIC newsletter, November 2021
- Introductory video for dried grape pruning project, June 2020
- Partnering for success, Vine magazine, May 2020