Context
Belgium is the 17th biggest potato producer of the world and is even ranked at the 4th place in terms of potato production per inhabitant. Nowhere in the world higher yields are obtained than in Belgium. Industrial potatoes represent around 80% of the total potato cropped area in Belgium.
The Belgian potato processing industry has known a spectacular growth during the last decades. The companies active in this sector (most of them family owned enterprises) have succeeded – together with primary producers and traders – to grow from 500,000 tons of processed potatoes in 1990 till 3.65 million tons of raw material in 2012. The Belgian potato processing industry evolved to the world’s largest exporter of frozen potato products, preceding the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.
As well the processors, as the traders and packers are increasingly working with potato contracts and as such invest in follow up of the contracted potato parcels in order to control and improve potato quality and volume, in close relationship with the farmer.
To keep up their position on the forefront of innovation, the potato processing industries are continuously looking at promising novel technologies that could improve business processes at any stage of the production. There is a growing general consensus that a better monitoring of the crop growth could increase both productivity and quality and that it could, simultaneously, lead to an improved food security and reduction of economic risks.
Objectives
The iPot project aims to develop geo-information products for both the Belgian potato processing industry and research centres focussing on the cultivation of the potato crop, as an answer to the industry’s specific questions and information needs regarding crop condition and growth monitoring on the one hand and yield estimates and forecasts on the other hand.
The joint use of satellite and airborne remote sensing data, meteorological data and crop growth models will provide an efficient and unbiased monitoring of potato growth and development on the whole growing area.
For each potato field, it will be possible to:
- Estimate the plant phenological stage as well as the plausible harvest date ;
- Estimate the risks of production or quality losses on the basis of temperatures, rainfall and soil moisture data as well as the plant crop status ;
- Assess the field spatial variability
- Forecast yields all along the growing season ;
Thanks to these informations, the potato sector will be able to act more rapidly and efficiently whenever a problem is observed at field level. These informations are also useful from a logistic and economic point of view.
Description of tasks
Several tasks are scheduled in iPot project:
- Organization of workshops with users to present and discuss the data platform, processing workflows and services and results and to make sure that the (proposed) developments are in line with their expectations. A specific workshop will be organised with field experts with a view to provide on the one hand training opportunity and on the other hand valuable feedback to the research partners.
- Collection and pre-processing of EO and in-situ data required for product development and demonstration.
- Development of prototype products for potato monitoring, at field level, based on the integration of field observations, close range sensing measurements, UAV and satellite images, and crop growth models.
- Development of the web based geo-information platform and setting up of of a continuous support and feedback on running services.
Expected results
The outcome of the iPot project is a working proof of concept based on tightly integrated web services and a central project website offering geo-information products for potato monitoring in Belgium:
- Yield estimates
- Information on crop growth and development: maps with the actual development stage of the potato crop, crop emergence maps illustrating the time (date) and degree of crop emergence and crop closure (in terms of % cover), crop senescence maps reflecting the % cover of non-photosynthetic active vegetation
- Information on field condition: photosynthetic activity / vegetation productivity, vegetation moisture status, soil moisture, temperature and solar radiation
These products are reflecting the intra- and inter-parcel variability. Status maps, as well as anomaly maps will be provided (comparing the actual status with the reference).
An important scientific outcome is a data exchange platform for both industry and research community. By opting for a web based interface in combination with a lean development approach, maximal relevance, usability and user-friendliness is pursued. Data and model complexity is hidden from the end user and offered transparently making use of the latest web technologies. The end product should be readily available without needs to install tools and have a desktop like intuitive interface.
The use of webservices allows for a multi-level access to the backend data and processes. Non trained users will use the standard geospatial web platform and will not interact at this level. Researchers can access the webservices directly from their own code, allowing more detailed and complex access to data and processes or models at different levels.
Contribution
Département Agriculture et milieu naturel (D3)
Unité Systèmes agraires, Territoires et Technologie de l'Information (U11)
Viviane PLANCHON v.planchon@cra.wallonie.be
Yannick CURNEL (modélisation des rendements) y.curnel@cra.wallonie.be
Département Productions et Filières (D2)
Unité Stratégies Phytotechniques (U5)
Jean-Pierre GOFFART j.goffart@cra.wallonie.be
xx (pour la collecte des données, engagement à réaliser)
Partners
Flemish institute for technological research (VITO) - Remote Sensing Unit : Isabelle Piccard
ULg, Département des Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement - Campus Arlon : Bernard Tychon
Belgapom : Romain Cools
CRAW off coordinator
Belgapom (Coordonnateur iPot)
Romain Cools
romain.cools@fvphouse.be - tel. 09 339 12 52 - www.belgapom.be
Funding
- BP Benelux, BP Belgium
