Smart Harvesting: AI-Powered Greenhouse Farming by Arugga
- Arugga leverages advanced AI and data analytics to offer real-time insights that could be beneficial for farmers.
- With automated technology, the company helps reduce labor expenses and increase the efficacy of operations.
- Arugga employs accurate methods to track and monitor crop yield quality.
Arugga is an Israel-based, venture capital-backed company founded in 2017.
In the agritech sector, the company aims to transform greenhouse vegetable farming by offering innovative solutions designed to bring in a coherent system of monitoring plants through autonomous robots.
Sustainability Through Innovation
Eytan Heller, the co-founder of Arugga AI Farming, aims to transform greenhouse vegetable farming into a data-driven, automated, optimized, and efficient field by developing ground robots to treat and monitor individual plants.
“Generally speaking, our solution is non-contact, which minimizes risk of viruses being transmitted between plants by workers or bees,” Heller told AFN.
Arugga strives to contribute to the agritech industry by easing the challenges of finding and retaining workers, simultaneously making producers more competitive.
The company also proposes a solution to reduce the use of chemicals and the spread of diseases in fruit and vegetable farming, thereby contributing to a healthier and safer planet.
"We are proud to be the first company to commercialize a robot that successfully replicates (bumblebee) buzz pollination in tomato greenhouses," remarks Iddo Geltner, CEO, Co-founder Arugga
Although the technology has not been widely adopted in the agricultural sector, preliminary data indicates that the robots could be more effective than natural bees, hand pollination, and flowers used to attract bees.
Automation for Greenhouse Farming
Arugga’s automation systems significantly cut down labor costs and manual errors, which are inevitable in traditional farming methods.
Polly is Arugga’s robotic platform. It will support several modules, including, but not limited to, pollination, plant lowering, and non-contact pruning.
The robotic pollination technology was successfully tested in commercial greenhouses in Israel, Australia, and the United States, showing results as good as and up to 20% higher yield versus manual pollination.
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It also exhibited results as good as up to 5% higher yield than bumblebees.
The pollination robots will be able to work when both temperature and humidity levels are optimal in the greenhouse.
Equipped with cameras and AI-based computer vision, the robot can easily recognize flowers ready for pollination.
An air-pressure mechanism further applies calibrated air pulses to the selected flower.
Predictive Analysis
Arugga raised $1.87 million through multiple funding rounds since its seed round in 2019.
Arugga successfully completed later-stage VC funding.
Arugga’s predictive analytics are employed to forecast potential issues and apply preventive measures. The technology can ensure optimal growing conditions for crops.
Leveraging data and analytics, Arugga steers farmers towards a better and more competitive edge in the market.
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