Last week marked the official launch of the Cucumdata Operational Group, or “Digitalised System for Creating Sorting and Packaging Strategies.” This group includes Andalusian entities such as Induser, Ecoinver, Oslice Technology, the Tecnova Technology Centre, and the Andanatura Foundation for Sustainable Socioeconomic Development. The goal of the group is to develop a method to reduce cucumber sorting and packaging times by optimising production and packaging systems in the handling plant. This will be achieved through a new digitalised system aimed at streamlining processes, shortening times, enhancing product quality, increasing output, and minimising costs.

During the virtual launch event, Carlos Villegas, Chief Financial Officer at Induser—a company with over 20 years of experience in innovating agricultural machinery—highlighted the project’s significance for cucumbers, a product that requires delicate handling, where sorting and packaging times have a significant impact on the final quality. Induser is working on developing a digitalised control and management system that will allow for precise, personalised measurement of times for each batch. Villegas emphasised that this project will contribute to the economic sustainability of cucumber production and increase productivity and efficiency, translating to higher revenues for businesses. This is also an environmentally sustainable initiative, as it will reduce waste through less product loss, and socially responsible as it will improve working conditions, task distribution, and lower accident rates.

Rosa Sánchez, Head of Food Safety at Ecoinver—a family-owned company from western Almería specialising in vegetables and speciality produce—emphasised the importance of minimising processing times for perishable products. Ecoinver is defining the specific requirements for the packaging line, reviewing current workflows for each packaging process, and setting strategies to reduce packaging times. To support the project, Ecoinver has provided its facilities, machinery, workforce, and necessary products for prototyping and testing.

Óscar Cáceres from the Department of Automation and Artificial Intelligence at Oslice explained that the company is developing the vision system, which will monitor processes and tasks across six workstations using QR codes and artificial intelligence.

Representing the Tecnova Technology Centre at the launch event, Lord Berko from the Agrotechnology Department highlighted the importance of applying innovative solutions to the challenges faced by the agricultural industry—a field in which Tecnova has extensive experience. In this project, Tecnova is responsible for developing a robust, cost-effective counting system that incorporates sensors integrated into embedded systems. Ana de Haro from the Andanatura Foundation also shared insights on the foundation’s experience in advising and supporting SMEs and micro-enterprises in natural areas, as well as Andanatura’s role in the project’s dissemination strategy.

CUCUMDATA is co-funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), through grants supporting the creation and operation of operational groups within the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability, aimed at conducting pilot projects and developing new products, practices, processes, and technologies in the agricultural, food, and forestry sectors as part of the Andalusia Rural Development Programme 2014-2020.