Mol, 29 August 2019 – The quality of the potato harvest depends on many factors; obviously the weather conditions, crops protection and adjusted fertilization, but also a correct killing of tops are determinant. By using satellite images in WatchITgrow you can see how green the tops of the potatoes are. Now you can also produce task maps to dose top killing products variably. The new application of WatchITgrow allows a much more effective – and up to 50 percent less – use of chemicals.
In a time where less use of chemicals is a goal, the app is an important tool. The subsoil shaping of the peel of a potato happens in ideal circumstances by the natural dying of the top aboveground. However, offten the circumstances do not allow this riping process to happen in a natural way. That is why chemicals are used to kill the tops. The potato farmer is now still sprinkling his whole field. By using the app WatchITgrow the potato farmers can see exactly where they can skip the sprinkling of their potato field or when they can use lower dosages when the tops have already partially died.
By combining satellite images, weather data, soil data, IoT and user data the online information platform WatchITgrow collects information about the growth and health of the crops. With this information it is very easy to produce task maps. Before, you could already produce task maps in WatchITgrow for variable fertilization and irrigation. Now it is also possible to produce task maps for variable dosage of top killing products on potatoes.
The potato grower can download this task map for his entire field as a shapefile and upload this into his sprayer. Tests have shown that the farmer, depending on the situation and the spraying technique, can save between 25 and 50 percent on the use – and also the costs – of top killing products.
