WUR researchers grow cucumbers using AI

"The dot on the horizon is a fully autonomous greenhouse system based on sensor data, remotely controlled by an intelligent algorithm, with an objective goal, in this case the highest possible net profit. In recent years we have developed the building blocks for this: the physiological knowledge of the crop, the sensors, and the intelligent algorithms. This is now all coming together in a validation trial," says Anja Dieleman, AGROS project leader and researcher at the WUR business unit Greenhouse Horticulture.

Validation trial with three different controls

Cucumbers of the Hi-Power variety are grown in three greenhouse compartments at WUR's research facilities in Bleiswijk. The controls are different in each compartment: there are two compartments with autonomous greenhouse controls: the Digital Twin, and the Reinforcement Learning algorithm. In the third compartment, the reference compartment, cultivation is controlled by a group of crop and irrigation experts.

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Photo: WUR