Artificial intelligence is changing how harvest time is managed, from pre-harvest through picking to packout. With TrueFruit Size, Grade and Bin Scan, growers can now measure, track and act on real-time fruit data from the farm to the packhouse.
Harvest is where the season comes together. After months of managing irrigation, inputs, and fruit development, this is the point where decisions directly impact packouts, market access, and returns.
Growing the crop is behind the production team. The focus now is on selecting the right fruit, at the right time, and ensuring what is picked aligns with packhouse requirements and market demand.
Decisions need to be made quickly and often across multiple blocks at once. The more accurately growers can see what is happening across the farm at this stage, the more control there is over the outcome.
Where traditional harvest planning falls short
In most operations, harvest is guided by a combination of field checks and orchard knowledge. Teams walk blocks and measure fruit with calipers, sizing rings, and a trained eye for fruit readiness.
Decisions on where to start picking and how to prioritize blocks are based on these in-field observations, together with knowledge of how the farm has performed in previous seasons.
While these methods are practical, they rely on relatively small samples and individual judgement, making them prone to error, especially at scale. A few rows or trees are often used to represent an entire block, even though fruit development is not always uniform.
Differences in irrigation, soil conditions, and microclimates can lead to noticeable variations in size, color, and quality within the same block.
As a result, decisions are often based on approximations, making it difficult to consistently match fruit to specific market requirements.
Bringing accuracy into the orchard with AI
Recent advances in computer vision and artificial intelligence are changing how fruit can be measured at scale. With tools like TrueFruit Size and TrueFruit Grade, data is collected directly in the orchard throughout the season using a mobile phone. Growers can track how fruit is developing, compare blocks, and understand how much of the crop meets target specifications.
Instead of relying only on manual sampling, AI makes it possible to measure fruit across entire blocks using just a smartphone. From just a few photos, growers can get an instant view of fruit measurements across the farm.
This technology does not replace field knowledge, but builds on it by increasing sample size and making assessments more representative of the farm. As a result, decisions are based on a clearer understanding of how fruit is distributed, rather than estimates from limited checks.
The value of this extends across the harvest season, from picking all the way through to packout.
A grower uses a smartphone in the orchard to view real-time data on fruit size and quality, with charts showing distribution across different size and color categories.
Pre-harvest: Understanding what’s developing in the orchard
As fruit approaches harvest, the focus is on understanding exactly what is on the farm. This is where accurate insights into fruit size, color, and quality across each block become critical.
With AI analyzing fruit directly from photos taken in the field, each sample feeds into a more complete and consistent set of data. This includes visibility into:
- size distribution across count classes
- color progression from green through to full color
- visible blemishes and overall quality
For example, Unifrutti, a global citrus producer in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, uses TrueFruit to measure thousands of fruits to give the marketing team accurate pre-harvest estimates for size, color and quality.
Harvest: Making more precise picking decisions
With a better understanding of the fruit in each block, harvest planning becomes more targeted. Using TrueFruit’s fruit search tool, growers can filter fruit by size, color, and variety, and see exactly what fruit is on the trees in each block.
This helps guide:
- when to start picking
- whether to carry out a strip pick or select picks
- which blocks to prioritize based on market requirements
If a program requires a specific size range and color stage, the team can quickly identify where that fruit is concentrated and direct picking teams accordingly.
This helps avoid mixing fruit at different stages, so what’s picked better matches market needs.
Post-harvest: Understanding what has been picked
As harvest is underway, visibility into what’s coming into the packhouse allows growersO to adjust operations in real time.
Typically, this only becomes clear once fruit moves through the packline, when it’s too late to change decisions made on the farm.
With TrueFruit Bin Scan, fruit is measured directly in the bin from a single image, in the field or at the packhouse. Within minutes, AI analyzes size, color, and quality, producing a shareable report on what’s been harvested.
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AI scans a bin to produce a report on fruit size, color and quality from the visible layer.
Because far more fruit is captured than with traditional sampling, the data is more representative of actual yields and delivered in a fraction of the time.
At this stage, production and packhouse teams can use the data to:
- confirm whether harvested fruit meets size and color targets
- give real-time feedback to picking teams
- update marketing and sales teams with accurate information
At this stage, every stakeholder is aligned on what’s been picked, before it’s packed.
Side-by-side comparison of fruit size distribution in bins on a South African farm, monitoring picking quality in the field. With Bin Scan, the percentage of larger, market-ready sizes was increased with less undersized fruit.
Monitoring picking quality during harvest
Long stems, pulls, and plugged fruit can reduce packouts if left unchecked. Even a single long stem can affect hundreds of pieces of fruit.
To address this, TrueFruit Bin Scan has been enhanced to analyze picking quality alongside size and color.
This makes it possible to monitor picking performance across teams and address issues early, before they impact packout.
AI scans the top layer to detect long and pulled stems, giving immediate feedback on picking quality at intake.
Keeping the orchard, packhouse and sales aligned
Moving fruit efficiently through the operation depends on farm, packhouse, and sales teams working from the same, up-to-date information.
With integrated sharing, including via WhatsApp, data collected in the field and during harvest can be shared directly with the right teams as it’s captured.
This enables packing and market allocation decisions to be based on a reliable, in-depth view of the crop. Better communication with buyers and export programmes supports a smoother, more profitable packhouse operation from start to finish.
A more controlled harvest process
By combining expert field knowledge with large-scale AI insights, growers can reduce guesswork and make more precise decisions throughout the harvest season. This is the value of TrueFruit’s product suite, which is designed to interpret and report on complex, changing orchard conditions.
Built for efficiency, it delivers measurable results:
- 25× more samples for a more representative view of the orchard
- fruit measured 10× faster using only a smartphone
- up to 5% higher packouts by targeting the right size and color at picking
Harvest is when the season’s hard work pays off. With TrueFruit harvest solutions, teams can track progress from start to finish using accurate, real-time data. Powered by AI, fruit is measured consistently at scale, helping ensure it meets packhouse requirements and maximizes returns on months of investment.
Learn more about these tools: TrueFruit Size, TrueFruit Grade and TrueFruit Bin Scan.
