Harvesting robots could make green asparagus cheaper

Guidance system from HepcoMotion allows exact positioning of the harvesting tools.

Why is asparagus one of the most expensive vegetables in Europe? Because harvesters have to painstakingly pierce each stalk individually. A robot could change this, and engineers at the Bremen Centre for Mechatronics (BCM) are developing one. It works with harvesting tools, which run on precision rails from HepcoMotion

- a specialist in linear guidance systems.

Asparagus has been steadily growing in popularity among British consumers, yet for the farmers it means spring time stress. This is because they have to harvest enormous quantities in such a short time - in 2015 according to the Federal Bureau for Statistics it was 112,100 tons. Work in the fields is arduous and workers have to cut through each individual stalk. It is therefore no wonder that farmers find it more and more difficult to get workers, and because of the cost of wages, are only able to offer asparagus at high prices.