Precision farming in Palm Oil

Swinburne Sarawak putting together a whole eco-system in precision farming for palm oil plantations. 

It was presented to the Deputy CM of Sarawak Datuk Uggah on 7 Feb at Swinburne. 

"We have designed a machine which can deliver the right amount of fertilizer to a specific location and therefore fertilize the palm in a more effective way. Currently, fertilisers are just sprayed throughout the field which is not necessary,” says Assoc. Prof. Wong.

Together with Dr. Hudyjaya, Assoc. Prof. Wong has patented an automated grabber which makes the process of collecting freshly harvested fruit bunches much easier. The machine can be operated by a tablet and it can detect, grab and collect the ripe palm oil fruit into a trailer. “This machine uses a combination of machine vision and sensors and can cut labour requirement down by 66%” says Dr. Hudyjaya. 

The DCM tried out the new loose fruit collector, which is a like a big vacuum machine sucking up loose oil palmfruit and depositing them in a wheelbarrow. He was then shown an autonomous version of the machine which suck up loose fruit on its own using combination of image processing and servo actuator technology.

He reiterated the need for innovative deployment of smart technologies to make the leap in the agriculture sector.

Read the Sarwak Tribune article