On International Banana Day, Australian researchers tackle one of the industry's toughest jobs

BRISBANE, APRIL 15th, 2026 

For over a century, Australia's banana industry has thrived in the tropical north, feeding a national appetite while relying heavily on manual labour for harvest. Now, a new push for automation aims to transform one of its toughest jobs: banana de-handing.
 

Separating banana hands from the bunch stalk is physically demanding, potentially dangerous work. Operators use sharp knives on stalks weighing up to 100 kilograms, and skilled workers are hard to retain, with new staff taking weeks to train.

With these challenges, the banana processing industry seems ripe for automation; however, decades of automation attempts have fallen short.
 

In 2022, ARM Hub and QUT began working with the Australian Banana Growers' Council to explore this challenge. That led to a $2 million project delivered through Hort Innovation and commencing in 2024, with Future Food Systems and Australian Farm Robotics supporting delivery of a working model. QUT leads the research effort, with Dr Chris Lehnert serving as Chief Investigator.

"Our goal is to create an affordable solution that can sort, grade and monitor bananas while handling failures gracefully," said Dr Chris Lehnert, Chief Investigator. "The system must execute precise cuts while protecting the fruit."

Front left-right: Wayne Austin (Australian Farm Robotics), Troy Cordie (ARM Hub), Stephen Lowe (ABGC Board), Chris Lehnert (QUT)

Central to delivery has been the collaboration between ARM Hub, QUT, and the industry and technology specialists who joined the project.
 

"This project began as a collaboration between scientists and farmers, and I think that's been critical to its success so far," said Dr Rosie Godwin, R&D Manager, Australian Banana Growers' Council. The purpose-built test cell at ARM Hub emulates banana shed conditions for best evaluation. After testing various cutting methods, the team landed on the most efficient one: water jets.

"Water has always been a part of banana processing. This method executes clean cuts while saving us the planning involved in using a knife's fixed edge," said Dr Troy Cordie, technical lead at ARM Hub. (Video link here)

The newly patented system moves bananas off a conveyor belt and positions them over a tank of water, executing cuts using computer-guided water jets to separate the hands from the stalk. Once submerged, the hands are moved away with water jets.
 

"People have tried to automate banana production before and haven't been able to get to this point," said Dr Godwin. "Bananas don't lend themselves to automation like some other crops do. The fact that we tackled this together has resulted in a prototype that addresses a real need, and does so effectively."
 

The advantages of the system are immediate. Reduced operator fatigue makes the entire operation safer, but also delivers consistent cuts — important in reducing disease spread. The end result is better efficiency for producers, and a better product for consumers.
 

"The next stage will involve finding and planning for edge cases within the system, while speeding up the process through hardware optimisations," said Dr Troy Cordie. "Once a prototype tool has been developed, it will be field-trialled, tested and commercialised."
 

For Dr Godwin, the upside potential is clear. "The potential upside, if the de-hander can be successfully commercialised for growers, is that it will perform what is currently a repetitive and physically strenuous task," said Dr Godwin.

Almost all Australian bananas are sold domestically, with exports usually accounting for less than 0.1% of production. But with niche demand in markets like Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the US and New Zealand, the possibility for future exports — of the fruit and the technology — seems bright.

ENDS

Media Contact:

ARM Hub: Mike Woodcock
Ph: 0411 969 248

E: Mike.Woodcock@armhub.com.au

QUT: Chris Lehnert
Ph: +61 7 3138 2483 
E: c.lehnert@qut.edu.au