Robotic Chrysanthemum Production Launched in Altai
The complex can grow up to 8.5 million flowers per year.
Russia's first robotic production facility for fresh chrysanthemums has begun operating in Barnaul. The project took three years and 3.1 billion rubles ($~34 million) to implement. The investor, a company specializing in vegetable production, built two greenhouses with a total area of 4.8 hectares on the grounds of its existing complex.
Flowers are planted using two robotic manipulators. One selects cuttings and roots them in the substrate. The second device places trays with seedlings into special cells for subsequent automatic planting in the ground.
After cutting, the flowers are placed in special vacuum packaging that extends their shelf life.
The complex's design capacity is 8.5 million chrysanthemums per year. They are planned to be supplied to the Far East, the Urals, and Siberia.
