Yes analytics in strawberry growing. Every day we make decissions. Based on experience, based on research, based on knowledge of suppliers.
You can also make decissions based on processes on your own farm, or gathered data. Below some of my own experience. In the following link the companies information on Analytics: FarmQA
Advice
For advizing growers i use FarmQA. I can make my own templates for gathering data (on smartphones, tablets etc) and based on that make the reports and give advice. I gather for example: Development stage of the plant, EC, soilmosture content, number of flowertrusses, diseases on a scale (0-5), pestst etc. etc.
For advizing growers this is very important: fast reliable information about fields of my clients. Growers can make their decissions based on this information. (below an screenshot of the template for registration of all the important subjects in strawberries).
Advantages for me:
– time saving – about 5-10 minutes per scouting location
– about 30-45 minutes for an averages report for growers
– more acurate data about the fields
– possibility to analyse
Analytics
Recently FarmQA added an analytics option. Analyse all the data you gathered. Get a good picture of the number of aphids: going up/down? More then comparable growers? And take or advice an action.
During the season i don’t need to check all the numbers. With the graph’s i get easy and good inside in what is going on. Do i need to intervene, or will the problem solve itselve.
Above you see a graph from Analytics. Easy to see, that most populations of aphids decline. Only for two growers i am doubt if further action is needed: one population is increasing, one is too stable.
With this analytics i could very easy check the population development for different ways of growing, or the use of bankerplants. Growers that work with flower borders around the strawberries for example had clearly less problems with aphids.
Heat maps
It is also possible to make heatmaps: an inside in the location of pests or diseases. In my case because growers are quite far away from each other this doesn’t make that much sense. For growers with largere areas and multiple fields or multiple scouting locations this gives a lot of insight in the spatial development.