Delphy Crop and Aurea bring agronomic advice, data analytics, and prescription maps together to add to the bottom line of fruit growers.
Over the past few years, substantial efforts have been made to bring together data analytics, precision agronomic applications and GPS controlled machinery to offer customized interventions matching the needs of every individual tree. Agronomic advice for fruit production that is complemented by digital analytics and associated prescription maps improves the orchard’s uniformity, increases yield and lowers cost.
After several years of testing and demonstrations, Delphy will start this season with offering Aurea’s digital crop intelligence as part of their agronomic advise. Their data and associated prescription maps are used for:
• Variable root pruning based on tree vigor mapping
• Blossom maps for targeted crop protection and blossom thinning
• Maps of leaf drop to identify tree weakness and targeted variable fertilization, for example to treat pear decline disease
Traditional and digital agronomy complement each other, and the opportunities digital analytics offer were met with positive grower feedback after multiple years of validation.
Based on drone data and image analysis, digital prescription maps are generated that enable agronomic measures for every individual tree. These applications generate higher yields, uniform growth and lower labour needs for interventions such as manual blossom thinning. Combining smart data and real-world applications, Aurea and Delphy seek to fully leverage the potential of this technology for fruit production.
The data and analytics can be used in reports, tablets or fully integrated in GPS systems. Loading prescription maps in the GPS terminal enables fully automated machinery tasking customized for each tree. Existing conventional equipment can be easily retrofitted to enable GPS integration and prescription map execution.
Tree vigor maps are acquired towards the end of June (northern hemisphere) when vegetative growth is generally finished and differences in growth are best visible. Robust, uniform growth contributes to orchards returns.
If you’d like to find out more about how your fruit production can benefit from digital agronomic advise or how you can be involved as a partner, please contact Rene Bal (r.bal@delphy.nl) or Bert Rijk (bert@aureaimaging.com).