LIFE GleanSmart: measuring the fruit lost in the field

Every kilo of fruit left in the field carries water, energy, labour and investment with it. Before recovering it, we need to know how much there is, where it is and why it was lost. That is our part in LIFE GleanSmart, the European project coordinated by AINIA: bringing together in a single dataset what the grower, the drone, the robot and the industry each see.

A European project to stop losing fruit in the field

According to the project's information, around 28.4 million tonnes of fresh fruit are lost or wasted in Europe every year, and about 6.5 million are lost during cultivation and harvesting. A precise quantification of these losses in the field is still missing.

LIFE GleanSmart proposes a methodology to plan complementary harvests and pickups, known as gleaning, and to return the recovered fruit to a circular value chain. Its objectives include recovering at least 25 % of current fruit losses at the primary stage and turning that fruit into six value-added powder ingredients, validated in three food products.

The project started on 1 July 2023 and runs until 31 December 2026. It is co-funded by the European Union through the LIFE programme.

Six partners, each with their own stretch

LIFE GleanSmart is a consortium project, and each partner covers a stretch of the journey, from the plot to the ingredient:

• AINIA coordinates the project and provides the automated and robotic solutions, including the drone used to characterise the plots.
• Odyssey Robotics develops the robot that picks up fruit from the ground.
• AVA-ASAJA and ASAJA contribute their knowledge of farm management and the trial plots.
• Agrosingularity turns the recovered fruit into ingredients for food products.
• VisualNACert provides the data analysis and the software that supports the robotics.

Our part: putting the data together

In LIFE GleanSmart we take care of the data side: the data analysis and the software that supports the robotics. In practice, that is the Visual app: each source records its own stretch and the platform brings the data from a single harvest together in a single dashboard, so they can be seen side by side.

In December 2024 we met with the partners to share progress, and we told the story in “GleanSmart: innovating in the reduction of food waste”.

The same kilo, four views

The grower estimates how much will be harvested and how much they think will be lost. The drone flies over the plot and estimates the loss from the air. The robot picks up part of that fruit. And the industry turns it into ingredients. Each one sees one stretch. Together, the whole journey.

In the Visual app, each source records the same harvest with its own form on the phone:

• Grower: the crop, the estimated harvest, the estimated loss, and how much goes to the fresh market and how much to industrial processing.
• Drone: estimated loss, flight date and the flight technician's notes.
• Harvesting robot: date, duration and pick-up rate, and the kilos that go to the fresh market and to industry.
• Industrial use: processing date, quantity received, final product and quantity obtained.

From record to dashboard

GleanSmart is recorded as one more activity within Traceability: you choose the crop unit on the map, add the activity and each record is stored in that unit's calendar. The data from the four sources is then shown on a dashboard, by crop or by crop units, with four series: production, loss, robot and use. Use, what the industry ends up using, is the series that closes the journey. The app screenshot in this article (in Spanish) uses test data.

What we take away

The first lesson is that each source sees one stretch and none sees everything. The grower's estimate, the drone flight, the robot's pick-up and the industry's processing only make sense together, on the same harvest and with the same structure.

The second is that measuring comes before using. To decide how to recover the fruit left in the field, we need to know how much there is, where and why.

The third is the division of roles. The grower, the technician and the industry record and decide; the app gathers, calculates and displays.

Thanks to AINIA for coordinating the project, and to AVA-ASAJA, ASAJA, Agrosingularity and Odyssey Robotics for the shared work. Measuring is the first step towards making use of it.

Shall we talk?

If you manage fruit and want to know how much is left in the field and how much is used, tell us about your case.

Sources

• European Commission, LIFE programme, LIFE GleanSmart project page (LIFE22-ENV-ES-LIFE-GLEANSMART, 101113991)