AI and machine learning to reduce postharvest losses and contribute to sustainability of fresh produce supply chains

VII International Conference on Postharvest Unlimited and Ornamentals was held at Wageningen University & Research, WUR, in the Omnia auditorium, 14 to 17th May, with an attendance of around 250 delegates from worldwide. The conferences were organized under the aegis of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).?Dr. Sukhvinder Pal (SP) Singh, Vice-Chair of the Division Postharvest and Quality Assurance (DPHQ)?represented the?ISHS,?International Society for Horticulture Science,?and delivered conference opening and closing speeches; Prof.?Giancarlo Colelli, Chair DPHQ, could not participate due to other commitments. Dr. Singh, who is a postharvest and QA expert from Australia, summarized some high-level messages from the postharvest conference and referred to them as the ?Future Trends Shaping Postharvest in the Next Decade?:- Reducing postharvest food loss and waste is one of most effective ways to achieve the environmental, social and sustainability goals. With the increasing demand for fresh produce in global markets, mitigating losses in the quality chains deserves more attention that producing more produce with additional burden on natural resources.- Artificial intelligence and machine learning will pave the way for automation and digitalisation of harvest and postharvest operations and the supply chain in general.- The growth in protected cropping and vertical indoor farming using Ag-Tech in production systems will be a major contributory factor towards achieving produce sustainability with minimal environmental impact.- Consumers will continue to rule with the demand for high quality, safe produce along with transparency in the supply chain. Traceability, ethical sourcing and supply, and digital monitoring of chain will remain the drivers.- To meet or exceed consumer expectations in terms of produce quality and safety, farm-to-fork approach supporting all supply chain elements will be essential.- Decarbonising supply chain through effective postharvest treatments, solutions and management will remain the key driver to combat emerging emission reduction targets.- Predictive modelling (physical and digital twins) concept featured strongly to manage the supply chain issues. Real-time monitoring and data-based decision maring in the chain will assist in delivering high quality produce.- Acceleration in produce breeding and genetic editing tolls will bring huge opportunities and challenges for the postharvest scientific communities and industries to handle and supply high quality produce. Newly breed material and designer crops could differ significantly in their postharvest biological behaviour and resilience in the supply chain.- Breeding programs, finally, have realised that the selection for postharvest traits holds the key to mitigating quality losses in the chain. VIII Postharvest Unlimited Conference and XIII Postharvest Ornamentals SymposiumISHS?organises scientific conferences worldwide to advance horticultural science, promote professional development of researchers and engagement with the industry. Postharvest Unlimited Conference?is one of these conferences which brings opportunities to exchange postharvest scientific knowledge and practice. ISHS Business meeting of Postharvest Division was also held during the conference. Dr S.P. Singh chaired the meeting. In his closing remarks at the conference, Dr Singh announced that VIII Postharvest Unlimited Conference and XIII Postharvest Ornamentals Symposium will be jointly held in Thailand in 2027. Dr Rob Schouten was elected to the working group chair on postharvest unlimited conference. Sponsoring companiesSeveral companies involved in the postharvest supply chain including research equipment participated in the exhibition at the event. Janssen PMP,?leader in the development and formulation of new and highly effective active substances and end-use products for the protection of materials and produce,?was sponsor of all the conferences and?Enza Zaden?the Gold sponsor, showing the relevance a seed company gives to postharvest research. Also participating as sponsor?UP, specialist in quality measurement instruments;?PhotonDelta, Chrysal, Van Amerongen, Contronics, Optiflux, perClass, PhenoVation, and Bareiss. ? WUR Facilities Postharvest Unlimited Conference & Ornamentals Symposium was the opportunity to visit three facilities of Wageningnen University & Research,: Phenomea, Unifarm and NPEC. Phenomea?is a research facility to investigate the postharvest physiology and technology of fresh food products and the use of robots in the agri-food sector. It is one of the world?s most up to date storage facilities and robotics allowing automated phenotyping of fruit, vegetables and flowers. Unifarm?is the place for all experiments with plants both in greenhouses as well as in open field conditions. Specialised compartments allow experiments with GMO plants, GMO pathogens and quarantine organisms. NPEC?(Netherlands Plant Eco-phenotyping) facilities allow uniform, quantitative and objective phenotyping. NPEC facilities consist of high-tech greenhouses with the latest software and image developments. Within the NPEC facilities accurate, high-throughput studies of plant performance are possible, in relation to both biotic as well as abiotic traits across a range of scales. Pictures1 - Welcome session in the Podium room of Omnium2 -?Sukhvinder Pal (SP) Singh, Vice- Chair of the Division Postharvest and Quality Assurance (DPHQ) represented the ISHS and delivered conference opening and closing speeches3 - Coffee breaks were the opportunity to interesting networking