Nova Scotia apple growing goes high-tech with bar code data collection

Researchers in Kentville are throwing away their pens and picking up bar code scanners to track data in an apple orchard. As part of a Dalhousie University project at the Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, computer science student Vinetha Jagadeesan is creating a program to collect, compile and analyze data from an apple orchard featuring more than 1,000 varieties. Each tree is assigned a bar code to make data collection more efficient as researchers try to develop the tastiest commercial apple variety in Nova Scotia that is also resistant to pest and disease.