Brought to you by Bayer
Trial harvesting on 46 plots with Serenade
For two months, Arjan Hadderingh travels throughout the Netherlands to do trial harvesting on 46 different potato plots. The job is part of a large, multi-year field trial with the biological agent Serenade. The aim is to gain broad experience with Serenade while generating as much data as possible at the same time.
When we speak to Hadderingh (Agro Support), he is busy removing his trial field harvester from the trailer. Here, on a starch potato plot near Onstwedde, he carries out trial harvesting at 12 different locations. Serenade has been applied to 6 of these places, a standard treatment has been performed on the other 6 places. The 12 locations were previously selected on the basis of biomass maps, so that both well-growing and less well-growing places are included in the trial. A wide range of measurements were also performed at all locations, in order to collect as much soil, crop and weather data as possible.
Trial harvesting is a fairly secure job. Each time, exactly 4,5 meters of back is harvested. The proceeds are collected in bags, tied up and labelled. Later, bags are weighed and a mixed sample is made. These mixed samples are sent to Eurofins, where they are extensively analyzed. The rest of the bags go into the refrigerator and will be assessed by Avebe later in the year.
wealth of information
“We will receive a wealth of information in the coming winter months. With this we hope to be able to analyze and substantiate how Serenade exactly works and how we can use the product as effectively as possible," says Sander Uwland of Bayer, who is also present during the trial harvesting.
He says that Serenade has already been applied to 39 different practical plots last year. Because the growing conditions at the time were anything but average, this mainly resulted in an enormous variation in results. “However, we now have more than enough indications that the use of Serenade leads to a potentially higher yield and also has a positive influence on the skin quality.” According to the Crop Advisor, these effects are confirmed by various project partners, who have also carried out their own analyses.
Getting started with green resources
Last winter, Serenade was approved for use in potatoes and is therefore 'ready for practical use'. “Now it is mainly a matter of gaining even more experience, together with growers. We take on all combinations, both with and without chemistry. It is important here that we do not always compare green products such as Serenade with chemical products, because then it will regularly turn out to be disappointments.”
According to Uwland, now is the time to embrace and start using green resources. “Everyone knows that the package of chemical agents will shrink drastically in the coming years and that sustainable working is increasingly becoming a must. With Serenade, we have a future-oriented tool in our hands. It is now up to us to make this a success.”
