Strawberry Picking Robot BerryBot Completes 10,000-Acre Harvest in Japan: Picking Efficiency Reaches 3x Human Speed

Strawberry Picking Robot BerryBot Completes 10,000-Acre Harvest in Japan: Picking Efficiency Reaches 3x Human Speed

On July 19, 2028, Japanese agricultural automation company Spread announced that its BerryBot strawberry picking robot completed harvesting validation across 10,000 acres of strawberry fields in Tochigi Prefecture. BerryBot is equipped with a high-resolution stereo vision system and flexible end effector, capable of completing identification, ripeness assessment, picking, and placement of a single strawberry in 0.8 seconds.

BerryBot's picking efficiency is approximately 600 strawberries per hour -- three times the speed of manual picking. More importantly, BerryBot's damage rate is only 2%, compared to approximately 5% for manual picking. For high-value delicate fruits like strawberries, lower damage rates directly translate to higher marketability and revenue.

Spread's agricultural technology director Masayuki Tanaka said: "Japanese agriculture faces a severe labor crisis. Farmers aged 65 and over now account for more than 70% of all agricultural workers. BerryBot is not about replacing farmers -- it is about ensuring sustainable food production when there are not enough young people willing to farm."

BerryBot's monthly rental fee is 150,000 yen (approximately $1,000), and Spread says most small and medium strawberry farms can cover approximately 60% of the rental cost through government agricultural automation subsidies.