As vegetable growers face a lack of skilled farm labor and higher production costs,they are searching for effective, lower-cost mechanical means of getting their products to market. In a study in the February 2016 issue of HortTechnology, or researchers looked at the feasibility of using automated thinners in romaine lettuce production. Their results showed that automated thinning increased plant size and uniformity,and "makes it possible for growers to increase plant population and crop yield by optimizing in-row spacing."
Source: phys.org