watermelon

“Without AI, this wouldn't be possible," said Mike Jacob, Founder of Terra Force.  His company has developed a robotic harvester that uses AI to identify whether watermelons and pumpkins are ripe and ready for harvesting.  Then, the AI technology is used to carefully pick the fruits with very little human oversight.   “We're solv...

Researchers at Washington State University claim to have developed a methodology for grafting watermelon plants onto disease resistant root stocks in an effort to prevent diseases like verticillium wilt. Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center Interim Director WSU’s Carol Miles said the disease is especially problematic in the Columbia Basin because it can be carried by one of the r

Many specialty crops are grown here in the Northwest. And if you're a specialty crop producer, and think your crop is not eligible for CFAP payments, you might want to check again.  "There are more than 130 speciality crops there are eligible for the program," said AMS Administrators Bruce Summers. "T ...

New data from the Department of Agriculture shows the majority of watermelons consumed in the U.S. are produced domestically, but imports are growing rapidly.   USDA says watermelon imports accounted for 1.5 billion pounds, or a third of domestic use in 2015, up from 11% in 2000 and 7%in 1990.  Pa...

Demand for seedless watermelons continues to rise and producers have matched it with a billion pound increase in production.   Jason Hanselman with the National Watermelon Promotion Board said this has led to some major industry changes.  ...