A single kiwifruit orchard can have over a million flowers, each requiring precise pollination to produce high-quality fruit. Yet, traditional pollination methods, relying on bees, hand-dusting, or even manual hand pollination, can be inefficient and vulnerable to climate change and disease.
Meet the founders, Dr Shujjat Khan and Dr Jibran Tahir of AiWorx, one of the ventures participating in the Sprout Accelerator Spring25 Cohort, who are tackling this challenge by working on an intelligent, precise solution.
The venture was born out of a conversation in 2022 between two friends, who had first met over 15 years ago at Massey University. Jibran, with an extensive background in plant biology, was stunned by the amount of expensive pollen waste in the kiwifruit industry, noting the small amount actually needed to pollinate the flowers. Meanwhile, Shujjat, an expert in robotics and AI, had worked on real-time teat targeting for automatic cow udder sanitation systems. They quickly realised that by combining their complementary skills, they could create a platform technology to address the challenge of pollination in kiwifruit farming.
The problem is twofold - cost and timing. Pollen is very expensive, costing thousands of dollars per kilogram. Additionally, kiwifruit flowers have a short, unsynchronised pollination window, opening at different times, often at night, making timely pollination crucial but difficult for bees and farmers.
Learning more about a new sector, Shujjat shared that he was surprised to discover that bees are not particularly interested in kiwifruit flowers, which lack nectar, and that industry research has shown that hand-pollination yields twice as much as bee-based methods. This dependence on manual methods revealed an opportunity for the team in the market. The venture idea became a reality for Jibran when he saw that Shujjat could accurately map the flowers in an orchard with his AI technology.
AiWorx's solution is an AI-powered drone system that enables precise pollination in kiwifruit orchards. The drones detect flower density and apply an accurate amount of pollen, drastically reducing waste and cost, while also improving yield with targeted doses across all flower clusters. This system also provides real-time data and digital clones of the orchards, giving farmers detailed pollination maps and supplying further insights into their operations.
The team's next significant milestone is to develop a roadmap for testing out in the field. Through their time with Sprout, they aim to establish industry connections and receive mentorship to refine and develop the foundations of their venture.
Beyond the business, AiWorx’s ultimate aspiration is to bring in a new era of modern agriculture by digitising farms and creating valuable data for science and research, benefiting both farmers and the ecosystem. For Shujjat and Jibran, success is not just about technical milestones, but about creating a sustainable solution that ensures food security into the future.