Potato Review

6 POTATO REVIEW NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 NEWS Digital insight to tackle aggressive late blight Former Samworth MD joins Branston board After a season that saw some UK potato growers dealing with one of the more aggressive strains of late blight, plans are afoot to harness the current wave of data-driven agronomy tools to help develop new, more integrated control programmes. Syngenta has initiated a project with digital farming start-up Sencrop, using its network of in- field, ultra-local ‘smart’ weather stations to shape a new generation of decision-support tools, precisely calibrated for the UK potato crop. “Newer, more aggressive late blight genotypes that have characterised the last couple of seasons present growers with challenges,” said Michael Tait, Syngenta UK Potato Technical Manager. “36_A2 was first detected in the UK in 2017 and has continued to be found in AHDB’s ‘Fight Against Blight’ samples submitted during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons. While there was evidence of larger lesion sizes of 36_A2 at very low dose rates in fungicide sensitivity testing from the James Hutton Institute, they found no evidence of resistance to any active substances tested against this genotype.” But it remains important to be vigilant and to adopt an integrated and robust approach to protecting potato crops and chemistry, he stressed. “The only way to tackle the threat of 36_A2, and other aggressive strains that may follow, is with a more integrated management approach that pulls together data, observations and advice frommultiple sources,” stresses Michael. “That should include a full appreciation of diœerent actives, alternating modes of action, and further monitoring of the conditions in which late blight takes hold and spreads.” More localised data The introduction of the Hutton Criteria, the risk-assessment system that replaced the 60-year-old Smith Period in 2017, showed how responding to changes in research and developments in technology could improve and enhance decision-support for growers. The joint work from Syngenta and Sencrop will look for opportunities to gather and apply more localised data to support these decisions, with greater confidence and accuracy. “The preparatory project has seen a Sencrop unit placed in trials where blight development and infection is being measured regularly,” said Michael. “This will help us start to ‘ground-truth’ and correlate data from the Sencrop unit with late blight infection. “From this, we’ll gain a better understanding of how local factors and conditions can either favour development of late blight, or inhibit its spread.” Next year, the project moves into a higher gear, when a group of potato agronomists throughout the UK’s core potato growing areas will evaluate Sencrop units ‘in the field’. They will look at how the aœordable weather stations can be best integrated into commercial crops to aid decision-making in future seasons. One of the more eagerly awaited trials involves Sencrop’s leaf-wetness sensor, which the company launched earlier this year for use in vineyards and orchards. “Standard leaf-wetness sensors measure only dew and precipitation accumulating on the leaf surface,” says Sencrop’s Fred South. “With Leafcrop, we can also monitor air temperature and humidity, factors crucial in helping to predict disease risk. “Leafcrop sends its collected data through our unique algorithms – sophisticated ‘number-crunchers’ – that allow us to evaluate conditions within the canopy. But these algorithms are currently based on parameters from vineyards and orchards, so in the Syngenta trials we’ve set ourselves the objective of calibrating the unit specifically for the potato canopy,” Fred explains. “This is a valuable project, both for us and Syngenta, to demonstrate the value of data analytics in supporting growers and agronomists to make more informed decisions,” he says. Responsibility for finding more sustainable crop production methods lies squarely with the industry, agrees Michael. “Data collection and analysis, and collaborative eœorts – such as this project with Sencrop – that encourage and normalise data sharing allow us to truly realise the benefits of digitalised farming.” NATIONAL potato supplier, Branston, has announced that former divisional managing director of Samworth Brothers, Peter Quinn, will be joining the main board as non- executive director. Peter has more than 18 years of high- level management experience in PLC and private businesses as well as extensive expertise as business consultant and scientific advisor in biotechnology, health and nutrition. “I’m really pleased to be joining the Branston board, it’s a huge privilege. I look forward to sharing my experience with the team and being a part of its growth and development,” said Peter. Branston is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of potatoes - for leading UK retailers and wholesalers - as well as providing seed for potato growers.