Bartle Frere Bananas harvests insights on AI-backed banana farming

08 Nov 2021 --- Australia’s tech-driven sustainable farming practices will be represented at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, UK, by a Queensland farm, Bartle Frere Bananas. 

The family-run company will be presenting a case study showcasing how artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and sensor technology are being used to inform data-driven horticulture practices for sustainable, environmentally friendly food production.

“It is important to know where your food is coming from and how it is grown, and by measuring our farming operations in these ways, we can provide Australians the information they need to be sure they are buying the best of the bunch,” remarks Bartle Frere Bananas owner and managing director, Gavin Devaney.

Farming smart
Technological advances have created major innovation opportunities for the entire food and beverage industry, prompting Innova Market Insights to peg “Tech to Table” as its second Top Trend for 2022.

In its operations, Bartle Frere Bananas leverages real-time, advanced sensing, leachate monitoring and sediment analysis to predict problems more effectively.Bartle Frere Bananas’ partnership with the digital analytics and solutions provider Hitachi Vantara will be featured in Hitachi’s COP26 presentation, “Technology and Data Are Key to Save the Environment.”

“We’ve now got the real-time, advanced sensing, leachate monitoring, sediment analysis and data capture in place, which runs through Hitachi’s Lumada Manufacturing Insights to predict and prescribe actionable insights based on data algorithms we have helped design,” says Devaney.

“These insights guide our best management practices around irrigation, fertilization and plant care.”

Harvesting insights
Bartle Frere Bananas’ operations are backed by weather monitoring stations and a supply chain control tower. It also captures essential farming operation data – such as insights coming from soil moisture and nitrate sensors – while leveraging a supply-chain tracking system with tags on banana plants and pallets.

When used in tandem, these solutions not only help the banana farmers predict problems more effectively, but also proactively respond to anticipated challenges and risks before they occur.

For instance, AI modeling and predictive analytics from Hitachi Vantara helps Bartle Frere Bananas predict when its fruit will reach maturity. These softwares also help reduce the number of pesticides that will drift from the intended targets and determine the ideal amount of water to use.

Predictive and prescriptive insights are delivered to the farmer in the form of data summaries, and visualizations from Hitachi Vantara’s supply chain control tower – a core solution of the tech solutions provider – and a mobile, hand-held device.

The entire solution set is managed by the Hitachi Lumada Manufacturing Insights, which tracks and supports environmental stewardship and smart farming best practices.

Scaling social innovation
This digital smart farm project is the result of an engagement between Bartle Frere Bananas and Hitachi Vantara Australia and is supported by funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

“Every organization and industry sector has the potential to deliver data-driven outcomes that can effectively address social and environmental issues,” says Gajen Kandiah, CEO of Hitachi Vantara. 

“The smart, sustainable farming operation at Bartle Frere Bananas was designed to deliver a better banana that conserves and protects the surrounding environment. It is a fine example of using the power of data and technology to deliver social innovation, for which we advocate, and we are proud to be a part of it.”

In addition to being valued as a whole fruit, the tropical crop is the base of key ingredients such as fruit extracts and sweeteners.Bartle Frere Bananas is a recent recipient of the Future Farming Award at the 2021 Australian Banana Industry Congress. This ensures the bananas Bartle Frere Bananas supplies to small markets and major grocery chains, alike, are grown in an increasingly environmentally friendly manner.

Banking on bananas
Bananas are among the top selling supermarket products in Australia, and all fresh bananas sold in Australia are locally grown. 

The vast majority of this crop comes from farms in the northeastern state of Queensland, with plantations also in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

In addition to being valued as a whole fruit, the tropical crop is the base of key ingredients such as fruit extracts and sweeteners. But critically, the global banana supply chain has been dealing with issues of crop disease and rising costs.

Last month, banana producers in South America began urging international retailers to address the global issue of “spiralling inflationary prices” affecting production costs, which they argue are not being reflected in the final purchase price paid by large supermarkets of the EU, US and the UK. 

In other developments, isolates of the Black Sigatoka fungus, a “devastating” banana crop disease, were identified from seven banana-producing countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa for the first time on a large scale, earlier this year. 

By Benjamin Ferrer