eternal.ag and Rijk Zwaan are collaborating in exploring which tomato varieties can help robotic crop work operations in greenhouses.
By sharing information and insights, the initiative goals to raised perceive which plant traits are suited to a future the place crop work in greenhouse environments is absolutely automated.
By combining Rijk Zwaan’s international expertise in fruit and vegetable breeding with everlasting.ag’s experience in robotics and AI, the businesses will discover which crop traits are most fitted for autonomous duties in greenhouses resembling harvesting and different actions.
By experimenting with new methods crops develop and behave, the collaboration will give attention to exploring tomato varieties that higher align with robotic methods in high-tech greenhouses.
This consists of figuring out traits resembling improved fruit accessibility and plant topologies that allow constant efficiency by robotics.
The initiative responds to a rising structural problem within the sector. Labor shortages proceed to impression greenhouse operations and meals manufacturing globally, accelerating the necessity for automation.
By aligning insights from crop efficiency with the event of robotic methods, the collaboration goals to contribute to extra scalable and predictable greenhouse operations.
“Robotics will play an essential position in the way forward for computerized greenhouses,” says Michiel Zwaan, crop supervisor berries and tomato at Rijk Zwaan. “That’s why working collectively is essential. This collaboration offers us the prospect to strive issues out in observe.”
“The collaboration represents a future imaginative and prescient of mixing superior analysis, technical experience, and real-world utility,” mentioned everlasting.ag co-founder and CEO Renji John.
“By bridging the hole between robotics and crop genetics, the objective is to enhance future crop efficiency, whereas addressing long-term meals manufacturing challenges in a future the place greenhouse automation is important.”
As a part of the collaboration, everlasting.ag’s Harvester robotic will probably be demonstrated at Rijk Zwaan’s trial heart high-tech (TCHT) in De Lier (the Netherlands), in the course of the week of 8 June 2026.
