Robotic Vine Pruning: Experience for Crimean Winegrowers
Winter pruning of grapes requires 30–40 person-hours per hectare and high qualifications. A robot with a manipulator and machine vision eliminates the labor shortage and reduces errors.
Winter pruning is the most labor-intensive and skilled operation in viticulture. In Crimea alone, more than 18,000 hectares of vineyards require annual pruning, and each hectare requires 30–40 hours of qualified specialist labor. The average age of a pruner is 55+, young people are not in a hurry to enter the craft — the work is hard, and the season is short.
Why pruning is a problem
Pruning determines the yield of the next season. The wrong cut — too long or too short — reduces the bunch weight, the number of eyes, and the load on the bush. An experienced pruner knows 30–40 different techniques for different varieties and forms of bushes. A novice will either over-prune or under-prune.
The Crimean wine industry loses 200–400 million rubles a year on errors in pruning — underyield, uneven ripening, increased disease. Plus 600 million rubles a year on the wage fund for pruners.
What the world offers
The leader in the segment is Vision Robotics (USA) — a corporation with 30+ years of history in agricultural robotics. Their VR Pruner has been working in California vineyards since 2018, processing about 40 hectares a day per machine. Cost — from $450,000.
Naio Technologies (France) has a Ted robot for vineyards — combines weeding, mowing, and selective spraying, but not pruning.
Agrobot (Spain) — experimental platforms for berry picking, including with manipulators. Not yet on the market for grapes.
Vision Robotics Corporation (USA) — their VR (perception/vision) system uses LiDAR + AI to determine the geometry of the bush and the optimal cut points. The system is expensive but effective on flat vineyards.
Wall-Ye (France) is a French startup that has created the Pruning Robot — a self-propelled platform with two 6-axis manipulators. It scans the bush, builds a 3D model, calculates the optimal cut points and cuts with pneumatics. Speed — about 100 bushes per hour.
In Russia, work in this direction is being done by Stiller and Cognitive Pilot, but commercial solutions are not yet on the market.
Our approach
We are building the pruning module as part of the AgroBot platform — the same wheeled 4×4 chassis with RTK navigation that we used for the weeding robot.
Manipulator. 6 DOF, working radius 1.2 m, load up to 5 kg, pneumatic gripper with replaceable cutters (bypass pruner, scissors, saw).
Vision. Stereocameras + structured 3D photograph + neural network trained on Crimean varieties (Cabernet, Merlot, Saperavi, Bastardo, Magarach). The system determines the type of bush, age, last year’s pruning, optimal load.
Decision-making. A specialized algorithm that takes into account the variety, age, shape of the bush, and weather conditions of the past season. Outputs a list of cuts with coordinates. The operator can confirm or adjust.
Pilot in Crimea
In February-March 2026 we conducted a pilot at the Magarach Institute and two wineries in the Bakhchisaray district. The robot processed 1.2 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The control season was processed by experienced pruners — 10 people with 5–15 years of experience.
Results:
- Speed — 95 bushes per hour per manipulator (with 2 manipulators — 180 bushes/hour)
- Pruning quality — 92% of cuts coincided with the control (in manual pruning — 87% coincidence between different pruners on the same bushes)
- Worker injury risk — 0 (in manual pruning — 2–3% of cases are cuts)
- Operating time — 16 hours per day (manual — 6–8 hours, then fatigue)
The main outcome: the load on qualified pruners decreased by 4 times. The winemaker can now attract pruners for the most critical plots (old bushes, restoration pruning), and the robot does the routine work.
Economics
The cost of the AgroBot Pruning Module is about 2.2 million rubles. Operating costs — 25,000 rubles per month. Payback — 1.5–2 seasons on an area of 30+ hectares.
For a winery with 50 hectares of vineyards, the annual saving on pruning — 1.5–2.5 million rubles. Plus a 10–15% increase in yield due to more accurate pruning.
What we need from you
For the 2026–2027 season, we are looking for 2–3 wineries in Crimea with an area of 20+ hectares for a full pilot. Conditions: provision of access to the vineyard, agronomist for consultation, plots for control. We provide equipment, operator, and post-pruning analysis.
If you grow grapes — write to us via our contact form or leave a request through the contacts page. We will discuss the details and timing.
Disclaimer
Numerical estimates, market figures and product capabilities mentioned in this article reflect publicly available sources and the author's analytical estimates at the moment of publication. They do not constitute verified production specifications or commercial guarantees. Production characteristics are confirmed individually as part of pilot or supply agreements.
Authoritative version
The Russian-language version of this article at tavridarobotics.online//blog/robotizirovannaya-obrezka-lozy/ is the primary text. This English translation is provided for convenience only; in case of any conflict, the Russian version prevails.