At the beginning of 2024, Hubcrop© took on the challenge of travelling to the state of British Columbia in Canada to participate in the cherry harvest season. The objective was to implement our digital harvest control system in orchards in the northern hemisphere following specific procedures for control, logistics and personnel management.
The cherry season was looking complex. There was a drop of between 75 and 100% in production caused by frosts that reached temperatures below -20°C, and in some areas, even reaching -40°C.
The harvest is organized in crews made up of 50 harvesters, 2 “Basketers” and 1 harvest supervisor. The “Basket” totes were placed on the ground, marked with identification tapes with the harvester’s number, and then removed by the “Basketers” to assemble the 24-unit bins without sponges. The work day began at 4:00 am and ended around 2:00 pm, with temperatures reaching 35°C at midday. The harvest began before dawn, using headlamps. The cherries were harvested in half-full totes due to the machinery used to empty the bins in the packing house.
The “Harvest” harvest control module was implemented, respecting and adapting to the procedures and organizational structure of the harvest. This was mainly due to the fact that sufficient time was invested to understand and comprehend the critical points of the process. It should also be considered that the harvest control was carried out using PDA devices that read QR codes. The QR codes contained the harvester’s ID, printed on yellow ribbon labels that were especially useful in the darkness before dawn. All of the above contributed to the process being efficient and effective, delivering valuable real-time information such as the yields and production of the day up to 3 hours earlier than usual, avoiding errors and downtime. In short, the process was substantially optimized.
The harvest was successfully concluded, with the satisfaction of having faced and overcome the specific challenges of Canadian fields. The logistical and climatic differences, compared to our country, provided us with valuable experience and confirmed Hubcrop©'s 10 years of experience in the sector.
It is important to note that Chilean professionals are highly valued in Canada for their experience and knowledge in production, harvesting and excellent processes.
The challenge for the upcoming season is to implement more of our solutions in addition to harvest control. We plan to move forward by incorporating our solutions for digital attendance control, labor control, and trap monitoring. Our mission is to digitalize the fields and offer our clients powerful, user-friendly, and cross-cutting tools, helping them to efficiently control their expenses.
