To improve productivity, reduce costs, and mitigate the impacts of labor shortages in the fruit industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh), is studying the use of drones in the detection of ripe mango fruit.

The Ministry explained that the project “Detection and classification of mango fruit using RGB images captured with a drone” is being carried out, which uses unmanned aircraft to perform tasks such as autonomous navigation, fruit detection, maturity assessment, classification and harvesting of mangoes, to optimize human intervention and improve operational efficiency.

The first stage of the project employed an innovative method to assess mango maturity through a six-channel spectral sensor, which resulted in the publication of a scientific article on the fruit maturity index.

The second stage focused on a method for cutting the fruit and an efficient harvesting system, which culminated in obtaining a patent related to the procedure for the detachment of fruit using an acid emulsion and an article on its effectiveness, said the Secretariat.

The entity explained that the third stage focused on the detection and classification of mango fruit, through RGB images captured by drones, and extracting the relevant characteristics of the fruit, with which they are classified as fruit suitable to be harvested or not.

In the fourth and final stage, the Secretariat pointed out that the achievements were compiled to design a completely autonomous algorithm that allows the drones to perform all the tasks independently.

The head of the project, David Vargas Cano, a graduate student in Agricultural Engineering and Integrated Water Use (IAUIA), said that the research was conducted with commercial drones and one assembled at the UACh, equipped with RGB cameras and advanced computer systems.

He emphasized that the study has had significant advances and is part of ongoing research that accounts for the modernization and sustainability in the mango industry, offering new perspectives in the face of the new challenges facing the primary sector in Mexico and the world.

The project was carried out in a commercial mango field in Loma Bonita, Guerrero, to grow Kent, Haden, Keitt and Ataulfo varieties.