Growing strawberries year-round with help from AI

A team from the University of Guelph is taking part in a research challenge to grow off-season strawberries in Canada.

When consumers buy strawberries from a grocery store in the winter, they’re often imported, overpriced and taste awful.

Growing strawberries in greenhouses is an option but it can also be very expensive.

“[The] berry itself really needs the right temperature and enough light,” said University of Guelph Horticulture Professor, Youbin Zheng.

Zheng is trying to identify the optimal conditions to realistically grow berries all year long. The project is part of the Homegrown Innovation Challenge which is funded and delivered by the Weston Family Foundation.

Horticulture professor, Youbin Zheng, in the greenhouse on May 9, 2024. (CTV News/Krista Simpson)

To help with the challenges of growing this very picky plant, researchers are tapping into another tool – artificial intelligence.

The greenhouse that Zheng uses is full of sensors, collecting data that AI can then analyze.

“Eventually we hope AI is able to control the irrigation for us, and that way it would save energy, save nutrients, save water,” said Zheung.

Strawberries are also prone to disease, often necessitating the use of pesticides. Zheung believes AI can also help with that.

“If you can manage all these parameters and then provide to your plants in a nice way, you can have good quality yield fruit and without spray,” he said.

So far, the harvest has been satisfying.

“Some strawberries are very hollow. These ones feel like there's strawberry all the way through. So you get more in a bite,” said Marina Jacob, an environmental management student at U of G.

The goal is to be one of the top four teams in the challenge who will get up to $5 million, to bring their concepts to life – on a much larger scale.