The University of New England’s (UNE) Applied Agricultural Remote Sensing Centre (AARSC) is once again making its mark on the global map, expanding its expertise to Latin America through a ground-breaking research collaboration between UNE and the Peruvian Citrus Growers Association (ProCitrus). 

Thanks to a $50,000 COALAR* grant from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the project will explore how AARSC’s state of the art remote sensing technology can be used by the Peruvian citrus industry to improve yield and production. 

Project lead Dr Angelica Suarez says it will be an important collaboration between Latin America and Australia, and will be an opportunity to solidify the relationship between the two regions while improving the global agricultural sector. 

“The relationship is quite strong in some sectors, but in regards to agriculture, the connection is still very new which is why this project is so important,” she says. 

“By showing the Peruvian citrus industry the benefits of using remote sensing technology to monitor crops, the project will raise awareness of the potential value of Australian research. This is a great opportunity for UNE.” 

The research team will use remote sensing technology to capture images using satellites that show the real-time status of the Peruvian crops. By doing this, they’ll be able to identify what needs to be improved, and what is working well. 

“Through the images captured, we can gather information about the health of the crop and relate that information to yield, or different issues like water stress, pests or disease,” she says. 

“In this particular project, we are mainly focused on productivity, so we are monitoring crop health and production.” 

Dr Suarez says this will help to identify the potential gains to be had from using the technology in the future in comparison with commercial practices.   

“Over the past two years, AARSC has been developing remote sensing applications with many of Australia’s largest citrus growers, following successful outcomes with other tree crops including avocados, mangos, macadamias and olives,” she says. 

“From this, we’ve found that the major benefits of using remote sensing include being able to forecast yield early in the season to assist with budgeting, access to markets and negotiate better prices. This project will also support decisions and planning around labour and warehouse requirements, and the logistics and transport needed during harvest time. 

“The project will also be very beneficial to Australian growers, as we’re going to learn not only how they grow there, but what the good practices are that are working there, and how we can apply it here in Australia.”   

ProCitrus General Manager Sergio de Castillo says he is looking forward to seeing the benefits the project will bring to Peruvian citrus growers, and that it will open doors to future collaborations.  

“This project means a lot for our industry and the prospects it has for developing technology applied to our reality, and we believe that our countries have much to contribute to each other, as we have many crops in common,” he says. 

“We anticipate that we will improve our productivity through better predictability of different functions in the field and better use of our human resources.” 

The project will begin in March, and is set to wrap up in early 2023. 

* COALAR: Council on Australia Latin America Relations

For more information on this project contact: Dr Luz Angelica Suarez