VisionDSS: a low cost portable imaging solution to improve quality, increase productivity and reduce storage losses of premium apple varieties

消费者和零售商对英国种植的高质量优质甜点苹果的需求不断增加，而英国脱欧后，随着零售商青睐英国产品，这一需求将进一步增加。然而，在不同的生长季节实现一致的高质量是困难的，优质品种容易受到储存紊乱的影响，这可能导致整批货物滞销，导致每年损失2.5-8.3亿英镑。在某些年份，30%的损失会带来严重的声誉风险，并危及未来的生产和营销策略。收割前的因素会降低果实的食用质量，使其易患贮藏障碍，目前尚不清楚，但研究表明，有针对性的营养管理可以提高苹果组织中的抗氧化剂，有助于减轻疾病的发展。然而，人们对生长季节果实生化成分的变化知之甚少，这些变化使果实容易发生贮藏障碍，因此，缓解策略的发展仅限于调整采收后、高成本、高严格的贮藏条件。长期储存后保证质量的新技术将有助于延长英国种植的苹果的销售季节，推动进口替代。该项目将开发一种低成本的便携式视觉系统，结合数学模型和算法，为种植者提供DSS，以告知季节性缓解策略和最佳采摘时间，识别“有风险”的作物收获前，告知储存和营销策略，并提高英国和全球优质品种的产量、质量和声誉。

There is increasing consumer and retailer demand for high-quality UK-grown premium dessert apples, and this will increase further post-BREXIT as retailers favour British produce. However, achieving consistent high quality across variable growing seasons is difficult, and premium varieties are susceptible to storage disorders that can render whole consignments unmarketable, leading to losses of £2.5-8.3Mp.a. In some years, losses of 30% present a serious reputational risk and jeopardise future production and marketing strategies. The pre-harvest factors that lower eating quality and predispose fruit to storage disorders are not yet known, but research has shown that targeted nutrition management can elevate antioxidants in apple tissue that help to mitigate against the development of disorders. However, little is known of the changes in fruit biochemical composition during the growing season that predispose fruit towards storage disorders, and so the development of mitigation strategies has been restricted to adjusting post-harvest, high cost, high stringency storage conditions. New technologies that provide assurance of quality after long-term storage will help to extend the selling season of UK-grown apples and drive import substitution. This project will develop a low-cost, portable vision system, incorporating mathematical models and algorithms to deliver a DSS for growers to inform in-season mitigation strategies and optimum picking times, to identify ‘at risk’ crops pre-harvest, to inform storage and marketing strategies, and to enhance the production, quality and reputation of premium varieties in the UK and globally.