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Proof-of-concept of harvest peak control using a strawberry cultivation emulator with artificial weather chambers

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Abstract

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) production requires a precise regulation of harvest-peak timing to meet market demand; however, fruit ripening remains sensitive to environmental fluctuations. We developed a peak-shift control system using a maturation simulator and conducted a proof-of-concept trial in climate chambers reproducing greenhouse conditions. Two control scenarios were designed: delayed flowering, wherein the predicted peaks lagged by a week and were corrected using heating offsets, and premature flowering, wherein the peaks advanced by a week and were adjusted using cooling offsets. Temperature offsets were explored within ± 5 °C, updated approximately twice weekly, to converge the predicted peaks with the target date on December 21, 2019. Results demonstrated successful alignment within ± 1 day in three of four treatments, surpassing previously reported prediction models. Cooling and heating treatments broadened and shortened harvest distributions by 2–3 and 2–4 days, respectively, suggesting the potential for balancing yield concentration. Post-harvest evaluation revealed no significant differences in morphology, grade distribution, or class proportion, although heating significantly reduced the soluble solid content, indicating a trade-off between accelerated ripening and sweetness. To our knowledge, this study provides the first experimental demonstration of simulation-in-the-loop, proactive harvest-peak control in strawberry, forming a basis for digital-twin-based cultivation control.

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Data availability

The dataset and code presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Tadahisa Higashide of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) for his valuable advice on the research. We are also grateful to Dr. Kota Hidaka and Dr. Masahiro Misumi, also of NARO, for their advice on cultivar cultivation, as well as for providing the strawberry plants used in this study and supplying the environmental data. We further express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Jun-ichi Yonemaru and Dr. Hironori Itoh, also of NARO, for their significant contributions to the construction and setup of the experimental environment used in this study.

Funding

This research did not receive any funding from agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors other than the NARO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Agricultural and Food Research Organization (NARO), Research Center for Agricultural Robotics, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305–0856, Japan

    Hiroki Naito, Yasushi Kawasaki, Unseok Lee, Masaaki Takahashi & Tomohiko Ota

  2. The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Tokyo, 113–8657, Japan

    Hiroki Naito & Fumiki Hosoi

Authors

  1. Hiroki Naito
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  2. Yasushi Kawasaki
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  3. Unseok Lee
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  4. Masaaki Takahashi
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  5. Fumiki Hosoi
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  6. Tomohiko Ota
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Contributions

Naito H., Kawasaki Y., Lee U., Takahashi M., and Ota T. conceptualized and designed the experiments. Naito H. conducted the experiments, analyzed the results, and prepared the original draft. Kawasaki Y., and Ota T. supervised the study. Naito H., Kawasaki Y., Lee U., Takahashi M., Hosoi F., and Ota T. discussed the findings and reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to
Hiroki Naito.

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Naito, H., Kawasaki, Y., Lee, U. et al. Proof-of-concept of harvest peak control using a strawberry cultivation emulator with artificial weather chambers.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-46422-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-46422-z

Keywords

  • Controlled climate system
  • Environmental control
  • Harvest date
  • Daily average temperature
  • Fruit ripening
  • Flowering date

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