A forward-looking mushroom company is studying the development of a robot that could help in the cultivation and picking of its produce.
The research project, carried out under an EU funding programme, is considered to be a challenge, particularly because mushrooms, by nature, can be both hard and soft.
The company, Chadwick Mushrooms Farm Ltd, is part of a consortium that includes other companies and research and technical teams from Spain, Turkey, Greece, Holland, Poland and Cyprus.
It is not the first project of the sort the firm has embarked on. It is at an advanced stage of studying the possibility of an automatic system that reads the level of water and other substances in the soil through sensors, regulating irrigation.
The company is also in the process of acquiring more funding from the EU so this prototype can be developed commercially.
Set up in 1974, Chadwick Mushrooms Farm Ltd, which employs 17 people and produces four tons of mushrooms a week for the local market, takes care of the whole process from the production of the compost to packaging.
It has also come a long way technologically: the complex is operated by a Dutch computer system that regulates temperatures, humidity and carbon dioxide.
Parliamentary secretary for small businesses, Jason Azzopardi, who yesterday visited the company, said it was a clear example of how Maltese entrepreneurs did not fear challenges and could be successful through investment.
Speaking about government incentives to support SMEs, he said Malta Enterprise was currently operating seven schemes under the European Regional Development Fund, which together have a value of €42 million.
So far, Malta Enterprise has issued three calls for expressions of interest. From the first two, 396 companies are in the process of receiving €24.9 million for projects carried out, while under the third call, 378 applications, which have asked for €24.4 million between them, and are being evaluated.
Dr Azzopardi said these schemes were a “golden opportunity” for small businesses that were embarking on innovative projects.