Brought to you by KWS
A closer look at CONVISO® SMART system
In 2018, KWS introduced the CONVISO® SMART system to the Dutch market. Since then, a lot of experience has been gained by growers, consultants and the processing industry. In particular, the very good effectiveness against weeds that are difficult to control, the simplicity of the system and, as a result, the ease of work are praised by growers and contractors.
The sugar industry has so far applied the no-unless principle, coupled with a maximum quantity to be ordered per grower, which in practice means that there must be weed beets or weeds that are difficult to control.
Future challenge/developments
The disappearance of certain authorizations (herbicides) in crops and the desire to make agriculture greener (partly because of the CAP policy) entails many challenges and raises many questions among growers. Soil type, technical possibilities, available labour, revenue model, etc. are affected by these changes. Many market parties are conducting a great deal of research into possible solutions. We already see many good partial solutions being reviewed (spot spraying, harrowing, hoeing) that can be used under certain circumstances, but for the grower, filling in the complete picture is the challenge. In doing so, it is important to look at many options and, above all, keep them available for practice because one cannot do without the other.
Search for a method that is feasible in practice
It is clear, however, that with regard to the above developments, solutions must increasingly be sought from a systemic approach. This means that in order to make the desired/required greening possible, a whole range of technical options must be combined in order to find a working method that is feasible in practice. All this must remain practically feasible and financially viable.
At the request of the practice, Delphy is conducting a trial this year in which such a system approach is being investigated in which wishes from the CAP policy (NKG + green manure foliar radish green until March 1), fertilization (animal manure application spring), mechanical weed control (clail + disc harrows ) and the minimum possible use of herbicides (classic compared to CONVISO® SMART) are combined. The aim is to obtain a first idea and to filter a practically feasible method that can make it possible to combine the winter cultivation of a green manure crop (green until March 1) with mechanical weed control supplemented with a limited use of herbicides.
There are clear differences between the classic (BOGTT) and the CONVISO® SMART system. It is also important for CONVISO® SMART to start as cleanly as possible, which is also reflected in the test. A clean start is achieved in this trial by using a disc harrow (instead of the head harrow) or the use of glyphosate. The first impression is that it is possible to achieve good results after a winter crop of fodder radish + high weed pressure in combination with the CONVISO® SMART system.
We will keep you informed
Through a series of articles we will keep you informed about the progress of the research and the experiences with the CONVISO® SMART system. You can expect our next article 'Difficult to control weeds' soon.
