Current tree fruit production applies crop management products uniformly across each orchard, however, orchards exhibit substantial variation across them and between trees. Even neighbouring trees have very different growth and crop loads. Treating all trees uniformly regardless of their size, density, crop load, or health limits yield, is inefficient, and detrimental to the orchard productivity and the environment. This project will develop a Precision Variable Rate Spray (PVRS) machine, control software system, and new systems for measuring and assessing each individual trees' status. These components will be combined into products and services that will transform the tree fruit industry and deliver new levels of environmentally sustainable crop production, increasing efficiency and yield whilst lowering costs and environmental impacts. Integral to this approach is that every individual tree in the orchard will be assessed, its requirements calculated, and then treated with a tailored quantity of crop management products. This will reduce wastage and improve yields. Led by one of the UK's leading and forward-thinking agronomy companies, this project includes a range of high quality growers, a large top fruit marketing organisation, a software engineering company specialising in global positioning systems, a top fruit digital agronomy company, a crop phenotyping specialist, a robotics company, a horticultural engineering company, the UK's agricultural chemical regulation organisation, and three academic institutions specialising in agricultural engineering and robotics, computer science, economics, and horticultural agronomy. Working closely across the tree fruit industry's production chain ensures that the products and services developed during the project are designed for the grower and meet their requirements. The consortium's network allows us to engage with the wider fruit industry. The project will showcase the products and services to the horticulture sector with a range of knowledge exchange activities and field demonstrations. During the project we will assess the new spray system's benefits relative to conventional spraying, and report on the economic and environmental advantages of investing in Precision Variable Rate Spraying. At the end of the project, UK growers will have access to the most advanced and efficient tree fruit crop management system available, and understand the environmental and economic benefits of using the system.

Grape bunches can contain a variety of large debris, such as spiders, webs as well as pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and molds (and the toxins that they produce). These can present a number of different problems, including: • Accelerate rotting of fruit & reduce shelf life - 47% of grapes are affected at end of life by rots and molds (MMUK data); • Represent a human health hazard; • Generate economic losses in excess of £39 mpa for retailers and wholesalers throughout the UK; through produce losses between packing & sale and replacing customer punnets where unwanted debris (eg. dangerous spiders/webs) or rotten fruit is present; • Cause waste of up to 12,900 tonnes of grapes per annum between packing and consumption (MMUK data & WRAP, 2008). Our aim is to develop a novel technology which will recognise and remove debris from grapes as well as kill micro-organisms which may cause fruit rotting and decreased shelf life. It is envisaged the benefits of the technology will include: • Extension of grape shelf life by 2 days; • Reduce grape waste by 50% between packing and sale (5,250 tonnes per annum if GrapeWash is adopted by the entire UK grape market); • Reduce CO2 emissions by 1,575 tonnes per annum through reducing grape waste.