F
BIFGA Tec
h
nical Day
F
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •MArCh 2017
t
h
eP
r
obotIQExpe
r
t package – an add-on system fo
r
Fendt
Va
r
io t
r
acto
r
s –will s
h
o
r
tly bewo
r
king in t
h
eUK, allowing t
h
e
t
r
acto
r
tod
r
ive and ope
r
ate autonomously. he announced:
“D
r
ive
r
less t
r
acto
r
s – yes t
h
ey a
r
e
h
e
r
e” and added t
h
at,
w
h
ilst t
h
e full systemwit
h
t
h
e t
r
acto
r
includedmay cost a
h
efty £115,000, t
h
iswo
r
ks out t
h
e same as t
h
e cost of one
man fo
r
t
hr
ee and a
h
alf yea
r
s. he said: “T
h
is tec
h
nology is
about inc
r
easing t
h
e value
andwo
r
k output you can
ac
h
ievewit
h
you
r
mac
h
ine
r
y and staff.”
Meanw
h
ile, MikeStoke
r
r
evealed t
h
at Ya
r
aUK is
sta
r
ting to invest in, and
investigate, t
h
e untapped
potential of d
r
one
tec
h
nology. he explained
t
h
at t
h
e
r
e a
r
e seve
r
al
diffe
r
ent senso
r
types fo
r
d
r
ones, includingrGB
(
r
ed, g
r
een andblue)
senso
r
s, nea
r
-inf
r
a
r
ed
senso
r
s, andmulti-spect
r
al
senso
r
s. he noted, fo
r
example, t
h
at nea
r
-inf
r
a
r
ed
senso
r
smeasu
r
e t
h
e
inf
r
a
r
ed spect
r
um of lig
h
t
t
h
at is invisible to t
h
e
h
uman eye. “Fo
r
example,
a plant wit
h
mo
r
e
c
h
lo
r
op
h
yl will
r
eflectmo
r
e
nea
r
-inf
r
a
r
ed ene
r
gy t
h
an
an un
h
ealt
h
y plant. healt
h
y
vegetation also abso
r
bs
blue and
r
ed lig
h
t ene
r
gy to
fuel p
h
otosynt
h
esis.”
Mike noted t
h
at, by
analysingbot
h
visible
and inf
r
a
r
ed
wavelengt
h
s “we can
p
r
ovidemo
r
e
accu
r
ate info
r
mation
about a plant’s
h
ealt
h
andp
r
oductivity.” he
noted, fo
r
instance,
t
h
at d
r
one
tec
h
nology could in
futu
r
e
h
elp to identify
t
h
e ea
r
ly onset of
diseases suc
h
as
canke
r
in o
r
c
h
a
r
ds.
he concluded: “It’s a
g
r
eat tool fo
r
us to
measu
r
e va
r
ious
t
h
ings, but t
h
e
r
e’s a
lot we need to lea
r
n
about it.”
Canker
G
r
owe
r
sw
h
ose
o
r
c
h
a
r
ds
h
ave
suffe
r
ed canke
r
(Neonect
r
ia ditissima)
damage can
r
est
assu
r
ed t
h
at NIAB
EMr’s canke
r
r
esea
r
c
h
st
r
ategy is inco
r
po
r
atingmany cutting-edge
tec
h
nologies, including genetic p
r
og
r
ammes, t
h
at could in
futu
r
e allow fo
r
t
h
e b
r
eeding of va
r
ieties t
h
at a
r
e not
susceptible to t
h
is devastatingdisease.
Plant pat
h
ologist D
r
robe
r
t Saville compa
r
ed t
h
is canke
r
r
esea
r
c
h
st
r
ategy to a gene
r
al p
r
actitione
r
’s app
r
oac
h
to
t
r
eating a disease, wit
h
g
r
owe
r
s’ t
r
ees being t
h
e patients. he
explained t
h
at seve
r
al diffe
r
ent p
r
eventative and cu
r
ative
16
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