PIPS 3: Green Atlas Cartographer
Hort Innovation has kicked off the third Apple and Pear industry Productivity, Irrigation, Pests and Soils (PIPS3) program.
The program covers apple and pear orchards across the country and focuses on new technology and advanced management systems and applying integrated biological management to pests, diseases and soil. The four projects involved have been developed to conduct integrated research activities and provide whole orchard system outputs and outcomes for the apple and pear industry.
The Green Atlas CartographerTM is being in both the PIPS3 Program apple and pear orchard systems research projects to assess it’s potential as a rapid orchard assessment tool to determine crop load for optimum fruit size. This tool is a ground-based sensing platform that uses LiDAR and optical camera technologies but calibration an validation work needs to be undertaken to assess future use.
Agriculture Victoria’s SmartFarm has purchased the equipment and it is up and running in the Apple Sundial Orchard and Experimental Pear Orchard. Later in the project it will also be used on commercial properties.
Agriculture Victoria’s Research Leader for Crop Physiology, Dr Ian Goodwin, introduces the Green Atlas CartographerTM components and capabilities in the video below.
