•
TRANSPLANTERS
•
•
POTATONUTRITION
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
MARCH 2017
They observed that splitting
the dressingwas inferior to
applying it all in the seedbed
in practically all experiments
onmedium and heavy soil.
Meanwhile, there were very
small advantages from
splitting the dressing on half
of the experiments on light
soils.
“It has been shown crops
take up a large amount of N
over a short time and build
yield in the early part of the
season,” explained Dr Allison.
“High yielding crops emerge,
take up N quickly and
maintain potential by
maintaining canopy. A later
application of N, 6-7weeks
after emergence, had no real
impact on yield.”
He went on to explain the
effect of crop N uptake on the
onset of tuber bulking, and
thenmoving on to improving
efficiency, Dr Allison stressed
that top dressing that ended
up the furrow bottom, or the
wheelings, is of little benefit
to the crop.
Looking at the impact of
different application rates at
several farms he concluded
that N application rates are
assumed to hit an optimum
and plateau. Although over
application, ‘insurance
applications’, can actually be
detrimental to yield - they are
a poor decision as they cost
money and can decrease
marketable yield.
Opportunities for fine-tuning
N fertiliser recommendations
can be found in RB209.
The course then covered
other nutrients, including
potassium, phosphate and
sulphur, beforemoving on to
sustainability and production
analysis using the ‘Cool Farm
Tool’. This spreadsheet
programme estimates the
amount of carbon dioxide
equivalent needed to produce
1t potatoes (Haverkort &
Hillier). The smaller the carbon
footprint, themore
sustainable the crop.
This neat tool looks at four
key areas: fertiliser usage and
soil emissions; diesel and
electricity; fertiliser production;
and agchemical production.
Dr Allison said depending on
how youwanted to ‘spin it’ it
could be expressed as per unit
yield, per unit area or per
contracted tonnage. The final
part of the training covered
NVQ requirements.
Summing up Dr Allison
reiterated; “Crop nutrition
cannot be considered in
isolation from other
agronomic decisions. Given
good soil conditions and
adequatemoisture the potato
crop can produce a lager root
system efficient at taking up
nutrients. Fertiliser
requirements may be relatively
modest but yield potential is
created early in the season
and factors that impede early
nutrient uptake (particularly
N), such as compaction,
inadequate water and PCN,
will reduce yield. “
I
talian firm Ferrari for
instance, has made a number
of major updates to its Futura
module auto-planter recently. The
older PLCs of the 15-year-old
machine have been replaced by a
mother boardwith a
microcontroller which is much
faster to react, and there is also a
new touch screen.
The pneumatic and hydraulic
circuits were changed to increase
the reliability of themachine
whenworking in dry dusty soils,
or during times of high humidity
and temperatures.
Another interesting feature
includes the availability of an
automatic timing adjustment, a
device that guarantees a perfect
plant drop at any speedwithout
intervention by the operator. The
Futura needs just one operator to
feed the planting robots with
trays. Every robot extracts the
seedlings automatically by means
of a system based on cylindrical
plungers combinedwithmoving
fingers to pick plants out of the
trays.
The Futura can be usedwith
themajority of trays on the
market, and the Stop&Go
function of the transplanter
carousel guarantees a constant
drop of plants to the shoe.
According to the company, this
results in increased performance,
improved planting depth and
spacing precision. Ferrari reckons
the transplanter canwork 24/7
without any reduction in output,
and as well as level land is also
suitable for use on raised beds. A
self-cleaning function on the
plough share prevents soil
accumulation in the shoe.
With the capacity to handle up
to 8,000 plants/hr/row, the
minimum row distance of the
twin version is 30cm. Available in
both trailed and self-propelled
versions, the company says the
latter, which are powered by
Kubota engines and provide 4wd
hydrostatic transmissions, are
increasing in popularity.
In 2016 the Italian
manufacturer developed the Fast
Block, an automatic transplanting
system for 3.2cm to 5cm square
blocks. Suitable for planting a
range of different crops,
including lettuce, blocks are
grabbed and placed on the
ground by two fingers instead of
31
Agronomists and growers getting to grips with potato nutrition on the
ARTIS training course.
TRANSPLANTERS
OFFERING
INCREASED LEVELS
OF TECHNOLOGY
There has been a flurry of new transplanter
developments during past 12months, many of which
provide increased levels of automation, writes
Steven
Vale
.
The 2017 version of Ferrari’s Futura is fittedwith a new touch screen.
