Background

India queues second in the production of fruits and vegetables in the world after China grew 99.07 million metric tonnes of fruits and 191.77 million metric tonnes of vegetables (National Horticultural Database, 2019-20).  Out of the vegetables, CAPSICUM, known as Sweet Pepper in different parts of the world, also commonly called Simla Mirch in India, is one of the major vegetables. 

The present-day production of capsicum in the country is being concluded above 24,000 hectares of land with a yearly production of 563020 metric tonnes (APEDA, 2021-22). 

With the rising exigency for various varieties of capsicum in the market, it is anticipated that there would be an opportunity for widening the sector under the production of this vegetable. 

The export trade for capsicum is also significantly large, and it calls the vegetable one with acceptable size, a lasting shelf life, and an appealing color. 

The stock is inadequate due to insufficient productivity from the open farms, which are vastly influenced by external environmental factors. 

Thus, a reasonable solution to increase productivity, yield, and quality could be raising capsicum within a greenhouse structure with minimal loss. Diversifying and enforcing greenhouse structures also broadens the probability of employment, thereby constructively adding to the country's economy. 

Present-day farms are looked at to produce higher yields with better quality at lesser expenses in a sustainable way that is less dependent on the labor force. India will assure ground-breaking food production yield and competitiveness only by raising efficiency and lessening labor reliance on agricultural processes. 

Despite the progress in agricultural automation over the years, billions of fruits and vegetables, including capsicum, are hand-picked each year in open fields and greenhouses. 

Traditional harvesting of capsicum for the fresh market is among the significant labor-intensive tasks, which not only urge high labor costs but also foist unreliability and timeliness costs due to the shortage of the expert labor force that undertakes repetitive tasks in the harsh field conditions. 

All of this points out that it is the best time for the nation to transfer from tedious manual operation to continuous robotic harvesting. 

Also, for robotic harvesting to be cost-effective, the capsicum yield needs to be maximized to repay the additional automation costs. This will act as a positive feedback loop and motivate the farmers to go for a better yield variety.