In Aomori Prefecture, a key apple-producing area in northern Japan, an initiative is underway to address labor shortages and enhance fruit sorting processes through artificial intelligence.
A Hirosaki City wholesaler, Goldnouen, has inaugurated a new facility equipped with AI technology, financially backed by the government, to identify and evaluate damaged apples. Traditionally, this task was performed manually by experienced personnel. However, Goldnouen aims to automate this process by training the AI system with data from manual sorting activities during the current harvest season, with expectations to fully automate sorting by the next year.
According to Goldnouen's Ishioka Shigeyuki, the adoption of automation technologies is anticipated to maintain sorting capacities despite labor constraints, aligning with agricultural stakeholders' objectives for efficient distribution. The implementation of this technology is also projected to alleviate the workload on staff and increase daily apple packaging volumes by approximately 20%.
Source: www3.nhk.or.jp