Potato Review

32 POTATO REVIEW JANUARY 2022 AGTECH S EED application can be a case of ‘trial and error’ and new methods are frequently being sought to help growers make the best decisions for their speci c needs. This month, Potato Review has come into contact with two pieces of technology which claim to help growers with the initial seed decision-making, and subsequent application rates. e rst is a mobile app called Crop4Sight, which we introduced in the magazine two years ago. It was developed on the back of years of variety trial data and seed rate-speci c eld trials to calculate accurate seed rates for target yields, market crop size and seed age. A recent update to the app is the addition of a seed rate calculator which Paul Coleman, managing director for the company which built the app, said its addition means growers no longer needed to rely on more generic information often provided by seed houses. Paul said: “ is can lead to headaches for growers. Our own data shows 50 to 100% swings in tuber number when the growers were supposed to be growing for the same contracted yield and tuber size. “One example we saw this season was a crop of Mozart where the harvested crop consisted of 52 per cent of tubers above the 85mm limit. at means more than half the crop was unsuitable for retail, equating to a lost income of £4125 per hectare. at’s the di erence between pro t and a signi cant loss.” Tailoring Seed Choices We take a look at some of the latest technology which is helping growers make more informed planting decisions. To combat this problem, Crop4Sight has been developed to give growers greater control over the growing process from start to nish. By inputting variety, seed tuber count, emergence date, target yield, market tuber size, and planting date, into the app, Crop4Sight will then calculate a bespoke seed rate. Its seed rate calculator also publishes the number of stems per hectare that should be achieved and the number of tubers per hectare that should result. e app also took account of seed age as this is an important in uencing factor, but one that is an often overlooked by growers, Paul said. “Most growers don’t realise that just a two week change in seed age – which can easily result if the seed crop emerges one week early the previous year and the grower plants one week later – can require a change of 20% in seed rate in some maincrop varieties,” he said. “In fact, di erences in seed age between one year and the next or one source such as Scottish verses English, can be di erent by up to six weeks, which has a huge impact.” Nick Taylor from Home Farm in Shropshire is growing 40 hectares of organic salad potatoes and 130 hectares of organic main crop potatoes this year. He estimates he has made e ciency savings of more than 25% and doubled the land he manages for potatoes since using the app. He said: “ e app is capable of taking account of the di erent variables at play and providing a detailed picture of the crop at all points of development. Before using it, in the most intensive part of the growing cycle we would carry out yield digs of ve samples once a week to assess growth curve and size distribution. “Now, we only need to do this once or twice between planting the crop and burndown,” he said, adding that if variables change, the app takes account of this so any steps required can be taken earlier. Meanwhile HZPC has developed an online potato calculator that o ers potato specialists tailor-made sustainable varieties. It shows at a glance which variety suits their situation on the basis of ve important traits. It nds the potato variety that gives the highest yield in the area of cultivation and gives growers immediate access to the most sustainable potato varieties of Even Greener, a new selection with extra sustainable varieties with a lower impact on the environment. Specialists have formulated ve important requirements that potatoes of the futuremust meet: Limitedwater consumption, less fertilizer required, high disease protection, long storage period and a high yield. Based on the soil inwhich they grow, the work situation and the regional climate, growers have a preference for speci c characteristics and the online calculator allows them to quickly choose a variety that ismost suitable for their situation. Nick Taylor, who farms at Home Farm in Shropshire, is using Crop4Sight to bring greater e ciencies to his potato growing operation.