Agrimate: the European project to revolutionize olive pruning through technology

Pruning tasks are extremely important for the proper development of a woody crop farm. However, farmers encounter problems to have a trained workforce to carry out these pruning tasks. With the aim of solving some of these problems through technological transformation, the Agrimate project was born, financed by the European Union and in which UPA participates.

During the last edition of Expoliva, held a few days ago in Jaén, the UPA stand hosted tests of a prototype of an exoskeleton to support workers in pruning tasks. The aim of Agrimate is to transform pruning tasks in olive groves and vineyards for small farmers through the use of Augmented Reality and Robotics technologies, enriched with Artificial Intelligence.

Agrimate, which will be developed over the next five years, was created with the aim of addressing some of the problems faced by traditional olive groves. As results of the project, the European consortium, which has a large Spanish participation, aims to obtain two products for the specific case of the olive grove: virtual reality glasses, as an assistant to help the pruner; and an exoskeleton that advances in improving the physical conditions of work. The project aims not only to improve productivity and resource efficiency, but also social inclusion and working conditions in the agricultural sector.

First appearance at Expoliva

Farmers and representatives of the Administrations visited the UPA stand at the Expoliva fair, and were able to see first-hand the effect of the exoskeleton when holding in the air a tool of a certain weight, such as a chainsaw.

Likewise, the staff of the Tecnalia research center, which coordinates the project, had the opportunity to carry out a large number of surveys to farmers and technicians of the olive sector to learn about the knowledge and predisposition of the sector in the adoption of new technologies.

As a result of these interviews and the work being carried out, the technology companies participating in the project, such as the Italian IUVO, are already analyzing the possibility of extending the use of these exoskeletons to other tasks beyond pruning, such as harvesting using vibrating machines.