Building a better blackberry picker

Labor is among the biggest expenses for U.S. fruit growers — 39% of production costs for fruit and tree nuts — and farm wages are rising, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. Harvesting blackberries by hand is a costly endeavor that takes more than one-third of the hours in berry production. Mechanical harvesting of this delicate fruit can help address increased consumer demand for berries and increasing farm labor shortages.

Researchers with the University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station collaborated with scientists in the mechanical engineering department to develop a soft robotic hand that can pick blackberries.

After being in cold storage for 21 days, the blackberries harvested with the robotic hand did not show excessive damage. While the fruit harvested with the robot in 2021 had 11% more leakage and 7% more individual round segments on the blackberry reverting from black to red than fruit harvested by hand, the robot was able to pick berries at about 5 seconds per berry. With further refinement to preserve berry quality, the robotic hand holds potential for easing blackberry growers’ harvest expenses.

Project supported by state appropriations. Photo courtesy Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.