Sound Science: Acoustic-induced pollination in protected cropping is revolutionising Australian agriculture
Western researchers have utilised sonic frequencies ranging from the buzz of a bee to echolocation from a bat to demonstrate that sonication boosts floral pollination and tomato fruit size. Project leader and plant molecular biologist Associate Professor Christopher Cazzonelli, from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, recalled the project’s conception and said “I was intrigued by how bees buzz flowers, humans hear sounds, and plants perceive touch, that common element is vibration and heavy bass speakers create motion.” Professor Chun Wang from the University of New South Wales provided a mechanical engineering approach to quantify sonication frequencies, acceleration, and plant vibrations from using a gold standard electric pollination wand used by many horticultural tomato growers.
PhD and Honours students drove this project to produce an article demonstrating the mechanism by which sonication boosts self-pollination and fruit size in four tomato cultivars that was recently accepted in the most prestigious Horticultural Research Journal, and ranked #2 by discipline. “We endured the COVID lockdowns testing phytoacoustic technology with Professor Chun Wang’s team from University of New South Wales, we tagged flowers, collected tomato fruits for analysis, and enjoyed the glasshouse space” said Dr Sidra Anwar, a former PhD student who led this project. Our team ran several trials using four commercial tomato cultivars provided by Syngenta and Rijk Zwaan. PhD student Happy, joined the team shortly after and said “I love the idea that sound moves air particles to promote hearing, and that bioacoustics vibrates leaf trichomes, so I tested if sonication can un-entwine trichomes holding floral organ together and promote effective pollination”. Happy was correct and demonstrated that sonic frequencies unzipped the trichomes holding the anther cone sheath and released pollen to boost pollination and fruit production.
PhD student Angus Dingley (New England University) published a review on Precision Pollination Strategies for Advancing Horticultural Tomato Crop Production in 2022. Angus explained “there are pollination challenges within the tomato grower industry that could be solved with robotic technologies and reduce labour costs for growers”. In response to these challenges, the research team have developed a potentially inexpensive precision phytoacoustic technology to enhance horticultural tomato crop production.
Associate Professor Christopher Cazzonelli explained how this new sonic technology overcomes reliance on insect pollinators and highly expensive manual labour required for pollination of strawberry and tomato crops. Currently air jet pulses and drone technologies are being trailed in Australian protected-cropping environments, but these technologies move air and can spread pests and disease. Using high-frequency sound waves, sonication offers a superior precision technology that can further enhance crop pollination without spreading windborne fungal pathogens that are economically detrimental to crop production. Sonication offers innovation to enhance crop self-pollination and postharvest food quality.
ENDS
7 March 2025
