California grows 90 percent of the nation’s strawberries, and many people are devoted to ensuring continued success for this $3 billion industry. The Cal Poly Strawberry Center has been a model for practical research, with continued innovations in pest and disease fighting, as well as technology advancements. One of the more visually captivating new technologies is a robotic harvester. After years of trial and error, there’s renewed optimism it will one day be a commercial reality. “There’s a possibility that within 10 years, 50 to 60 percent at least, if not more, of the strawberries picked will be done by robots,” said Alex Gutierrez, Founder and CEO of L5 Automation. The Strawberry Center has made steady strides in providing practical, grower-focused solutions. “It gives me a lot of satisfaction to work in this industry because we see the things we are doing actually come to fruition” remarked Center Director Gerald Holmes.
