Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW MAY/JUNE 2021 19 AUTONOMY C ULTIVATION machinery manufacturer Dewulf and Agrointelli, which manufactures the autonomous agricultural robot ROBOTTI, have announced that they will be working together to explore the bene ts of using autonomous machines in potato cultivation. e two companies have a shared vision of broadening possibilities for potato growers and looking at new solutions for more sustainable, e cient, and robust production methods and technologies and are to undertake a joint e ort towards o ering automated operations with a high level of data acquisition and site-speci c optimisation. eir rst project will see the combination of the autonomous Robotti platform with a four-row Miedema CP 42 cup planter. e autonomous Robotti platform from Agrointelli will be combined with a four-row Robotic cultivation Joint project explores autonomous potato planting. Miedema CP 42 cup planter. is planter will be a straightforward, mechanically- driven machine. is will allow to identify what automation and optimisation features are really needed when potato planting with a robot. e autonomous potato planting combination recently planted on the demonstration elds of Potato Europe ’21. Robotti had already demonstrated spot spraying in relation to potatoes together with Wageningen University in Lelystad. As growers struggle to respond to challenges such as lack of skilled labour, threats of soil compaction and a high need for sustainable solutions, the companies believe automation and precision farming is the way to address these needs. Melle van der Molen, Product Manager Planting equipment at Dewulf, said: “We believe a great role will be played by autonomous agricultural machinery in the future. Agrointelli is at the vanguard of robotisation in arable farming. e Robotti is a great example of how robotisation can reduce labour requirements while at the same time tackling soil compaction. e learnings and discoveries that will come out of this project will help make potato cultivation more enjoyable for growers and will shape the solutions that we will be o ering tomorrow.” Ole Green, CEO of Agrointelli said he envisaged “fantastic perspectives”. He said potato production in Europe is an important industry and the crop’s cultivation area is increasing in size throughout Europe. “At the same time, it is a production system requiring a lot of man hours as well as a lot of treatments during the season. Here we see some amazing optimization possibilities for the growers to improve their production system and economy,” he said.