Optical vision systems to eradicate bitter almonds from the commercial circuit

The Operative Group for the eradication of bitter almonds will use state-of-the-art optical vision systems to prevent them from entering the market. An initiative that was announced during the presentation day held in Madrid on December 27th, to present in detail its innovation project with which it seeks to provide solutions to this problem. This project is structured in three phases: detection of bitter almonds in marketing, identification and geolocation of bitter almonds in the field and campaign to disseminate results.

According to the Operational Group (GO) for the eradication of bitter almond, the solutions to this problem go through an integral Plan from the tree to the table that, using the latest technological advances, eradicates the bitter almond from the marketing channels . A Plan that is structured in three large blocks:

Detection of bitter almonds in marketing. For this purpose, the development of prototypes that identify optical systems and eliminate bitter almonds in the clothing lines is proposed.

Identification and geolocation of bitter almonds in the field, through the development of a mobile application (app) that identifies and locates bitter almonds. It is intended that this tool can also be used to prepare an Eradication Plan.

Awareness campaigns, dissemination and collaboration with the Administration. The objective of this phase is to inform and communicate the results thereof to producers, organizations and associations of the sector, as well as local, regional and national public administrations.

The GO for the eradication of the bitter almond is constituted by the Andalusian cooperative Almendrera del Sur, the cooperative from Murcia COATO, the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG), Agri-food Cooperatives of Andalusia, the Andalusian Foundation of Image, Color and Óptica (FAICO), and has the support of Agri-food Cooperatives of Spain and the CEBAS-CSIC research center. The development of this GO is within the framework of the National Rural Development Program, financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

Source: COAG

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