Potato growers could soon benefit from a government-backed Agri-Tech Catalyst research project named Poptical that is using drones to detect diseases in the field.
Steve Keyworth, co-founder and director of UK-based crop intelligence specialist and Poptical consortium member URSULA Agriculture, revealed details of the project at last month’s (October 2015) London meeting of the Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum. There, he explained that the aim of Poptical is to: “use data from drones – these are small, unmanned air systems with novel sensors – and apply novel algorithms to data from those sensors as the basis for early disease detection.” He noted that the three-year project, which is in its first year, is of particular interest to the British potato industry as some seven per cent of its potato crops are currently lost to diseases such as late blight.
He said: “There are huge costs that go into trying to control late blight in the UK – [costs] of over £350 a hectare are generally an accepted number. So the commercial opportunities are big.”
So far, the research has seen several trial sites across the UK inoculated with various diseases. Keyworth explained: “We are then sensing those [sites] over multiple timeframes, so we’re collecting an awful lot of data tracking.” URSULA Agriculture is one of several partners involved in the research – the other members being the James Hutton Institute, potato producer Manor Fresh and agronomy firm Agrii.
Photo Credit: URSULA Agriculture
