From Flowers to Fruit: Maximizing Your Berry Crop with Precision Pollination and Polly™

If you’re a fruit producer, supplier, or retailer, you’ve probably witnessed the incredible sight of a glasshouse or polytunnel in its flowering peak. The sheer number of flowers can be overwhelming, and naturally, not every flower will develop into a high-quality fruit. But what if you could maximise the number of good-grade fruits within the capacity of your plants? With the right tools, it’s achievable. Enter AgriSound’s Polly™: the game-changing tool that brings precision pollination to your farm.

A New Era in Agricultural Innovation

In the world of agriculture, innovation happens every day. One of the most important areas of advancement is precision technology. This approach uses advanced data analysis and technology to carry out site-specific farm operations tailored to requirements – no more, no less. By doing so, it significantly enhances both yield and sustainability.

One pioneering frontier in this movement is precision pollination. This involves tracking pollinators and adjusting their movements to improve fruit production. This eco-friendly method not only boosts yield but also enhances fruit quality without requiring additional inputs.

Why Bumblebees?

Bumblebees, (genus Bombus), are exceptional natural pollinators for fruit crops. Unlike honeybees, bumblebees perform “buzz pollination,” where they vibrate their bodies to release pollen from flowers. This technique is especially beneficial for crops like strawberries, which require precise and effective pollination to ensure uniform fruit development.

Buzz pollination is the key to producing high-quality, well-formed berries that are firm, vibrant in colour, and superior in taste and nutrition. Globally, $5.36 billion in strawberry revenue each year is directly linked to pollinator activity, underscoring the significant dependence of strawberries on these pollinator species.

The Big Problem

Despite the capabilities of bumblebees, their efforts can be rendered ineffective without appropriate monitoring tools. Bumblebees exhibit inconsistent foraging patterns and, unlike honeybees, cannot communicate with one another about pollen availability. Additionally, the health and performance of commercial bumblebee boxes are influenced by various external factors. In controlled and semi-controlled environments, their foraging and pollination behaviours can be quite erratic. Proper monitoring and targeted interventions are essential to enhance their effectiveness across an entire crop area.

An Easy Solution

By deploying Polly™ devices in berry cultivation areas and monitoring pollinator activity throughout flowering and fruiting seasons, AgriSound provides an easy solution. When a pollinator shortage is detected, expert recommendations are provided to enhance pollinator activity, ensuring optimal pollination and maximising yield across your farm.

Precision Pollination with AgriSound

For strawberry producers, precision pollination using bumblebees is a sustainable, efficient, and highly effective way to maximise both yield and quality. This natural solution not only improves agricultural outcomes but also contributes to a healthier and more sustainable ecosystem.

We recently carried out a trial to showcase the potential of our approach in boosting the yield of your cultivation system. The results were promising, demonstrating significant improvements in the yield of both strawberries and blackberries.

For strawberries, optimal bee activity led to:

• A remarkable 10% increase in the production of grade I berries
• A 5% boost in sweetness
• An 8.5% rise in overall berry weight

For blackberries, ensuring optimum bee activity resulted in:

• Greater fruit weight
• Longer fruit length
• Higher Brix levels, indicating increased sweetness

One of the most impressive outcomes was the reduction of unripe berries to 0%, ensuring uniform ripening, optimizing harvesting, and minimizing waste.

Get Started Today

These results are just the beginning! We have attractive offers for early adopters interested in implementing precision pollination in their production systems. Contact us at [email protected] to learn more. Together, we can make the UK self-sufficient for our berry demands all year round, not just during summer.