Lumi Agro (Teembú SAS) has partnered with the National University of the Coast (UNL) to develop an autonomous robotic platform to eliminate microorganisms from strawberry plantations using ultraviolet light. The goal is to use fewer chemical inputs in this crop.

The project, which has financial support and monitoring from the Sadosky Foundation, uses short ultraviolet radiation (UV-C) to eliminate fungi, diseases and pests. This will allow us to rely on an advanced technology that does not exist today in the market and solve one of the most important limitations that strawberry producers have when exporting. Currently, a team consisting of researchers from UNL's Systems and Computational Intelligence (Sinc) and technologists from the Lumi company is working on the final prototype that will soon be available.

Lumi's project was born out of the pandemic when they created ultraviolet light equipment that eliminated various microorganisms, including SARS-CoV-2. With this project, Lumi received several awards and recognitions. Then, with the advent of vaccines, they decided to focus their developments on agriculture, taking into account other studies related to the use of ultraviolet light in crops.

How does the robot work?  Strong ultraviolet or shortwave radiation (UV-C) has been used to disinfect air, water and, to some extent, in the food industry in post-harvest treatments of vegetables and fruits before packaging to kill fungi.  With weekly applications of a few seconds and very low doses, it is enough to prevent the growth of microorganisms. "UV-C light is the same light that the sun radiates. We are using something that already exists in nature, applying it directly to the plant in another way. This does not damage the fruit, it does not alter its properties and you get a fruit that lasts much longer on the shelves without pesticides," explains Romero Ayala.

Source: Agrolink