QUT plant scientists and roboticists will lead a $41million, five-year project to accelerate the development of new varieties of almond, apple, macadamia, citrus and mango to enable more efficient and sustainable orchard production.
- QUT's expertise in robotic vision and non-traditional plant breeding techniques enlisted
- Hort Innovation's project aims to develop smaller, high-density, and higher-yielding orchards
- New varieties of apples, almonds, citrus, mango and macadamia to be grown in rows for automated picking
The project, delivered through Hort Innovation's Frontiers investment program, aims to develop smaller, high-density, and higher-yielding orchards suited to automated harvesting by robots.
This collaborative project brings together plant genomics and robotics research strengths from QUT, Murdoch University, The University of Queensland and Western Sydney University.
The program builds on more than five years of tree genomics and crop physiology research to improve orchard production and develop new tree crop varieties through national levy and publicly funded breeding programs.
QUT program director, evolutionary geneticist Professor Peter Prentis, from QUT's School of Biology and Environmental Science, said the goal was to grow smaller trees with greater disease resistance, productivity, storage time and enhanced climate resilience.
"To fast-forward the process of breeding new varieties suitable for the next-gen orchard, we will use traditional breeding methods and QUT's expertise in non-traditional breeding approaches," Professor Prentis said.
"The newly developed trees may be grown in straight rows on trellises, which is how many apple orchards already operate that produce large yields.
"This will enable robots to move up and down the rows for easier automated picking."
Professor Prentis said QUT's leadership in robotic vision and drone technology would be used in the first phase of the project to obtain data on the tree's characteristics including key flowering and architecture (growing style) traits.
"Our first step is to provide breeders with the genomic tools to deliver new varieties and to do this our robots will take images of existing trees to enable breeders to study and understand their traits and help generate trees with desirable trait combinations.
"Climate change is another challenge crops like apple, mango, and almond face, because they need a certain amount of cold temperature to produce more consistent flowering and intensify production.
"This project aims to develop management tools to help these orchard crops flower more consistently."
Hort Innovation chief executive officer Brett Fifield said this program would prepare tree crop farming for a more productive and profitable future.
"Equipping plant breeders with the tools to develop genetics for the next generation of orchards will support the horticulture industry to increase labour-use efficiency, enable the adoption of automation technologies, and enhance resilience to climate change and diseases," Mr Fifield said.
"In the long-term, this program will enable the development of new varieties of almond, apple, citrus, macadamia and mango to ensure their long-term viability and global competitiveness."
The QUT research team comprises Professor Prentis, evolutionary biologist; Associate Professor David Hurwood plant biologist Dr Stephanie Kerr; plant biologist Dr Brett Williams; plant biotechnologists Dr Julia Bally, Dr Marion Bateson, and Dr Leena Thung; geneticist Dr Kevin Dudley; chemical engineer Dr Morteza Hassanpour; roboticists Dr Simon Denman and Dr Chris Lehnert.
(Image, from left: Dr Morteza Hassanpour, Dr Stephanie Kerr, Dr Chris Lehnert, Dr Leena Thung, Professor Peter Prentis, Dr Julia Bally and Associate Professor David Hurwood)
