Can we use the combined power of biology, big data and artificial intelligence to predict the future of an orchard before we plant the first tree?

It takes many years to establish an orchard. With perennial fruit trees taking up to five years to produce a commercial-sized crop of fruit, growers want to be sure that they plant trees that will produce fruit long-term that consumers will continue to buy.

Growers need to make decisions now about which trees to plant and the best way to grow them, with the knowledge that they’re making the right decisions for long-term success. To help them out, we’re creating a digital simulation of an orchard that will allow us to test and optimise production before they plant the first tree in the real world.

We’re monitoring and analysing existing orchards and supply chains, using new sensing and imaging systems to understand what’s happening from micro to macro levels. Using the big data generated, along with advanced machine learning tools and artificial intelligence technologies, we’re building models that can make predictions about multiple future scenarios to understand how different decisions are likely to impact long-term fruit production.

Our research teams will use these models to develop new cultivars, production systems and supply chain technologies centred around how trees are likely to behave under the most likely future climate scenarios, as well as how best to get the fruit to market. That way, growers can be assured that the trees they’re planting will have the best chance of producing high quality fruit that consumers will enjoy for a long time to come, regardless of how the world might change.