" In the past , we could only swear on our unripe fingers . Now we can complement that knowledge with true data , " says Sander Middelburg of Leen Middelburg Chrysanthemums . At the localization in Maasdijk - and at some other locations of Zentoo - they are busy monitoring the crop using ADI ’s imagination technology ; the data is then integrate into Delphy ’s growth models . Middelburg : " If we see the chrysanthemum well , we can make better cultivation decisions . "
Growers strain day in and daytime out for an optimal and sustainable harvest . Knowledge of the crop is all-important for this , says chrysanthemum grower Sander Middelburg . And technology can help with that . That ’s why Middelburg take off searching for adept camera technology to learn more about the chrysanthemums a few years ago . The estimation was that the photographic camera had to be mobile and not fixed in one place . Middelburg : " Chrysanthemum cultivation is very dynamic . We glean and plant every day , so the harvest is unlike every day . “
Data - driven chrysanthemum cultivationOther growers within the Zentoo growers ' connection were also look for a like root . A steering group was started together with stock breeder Deliflor , fertiliser supplier Van Iperen , and Delphy to explore how datum - driven chrysanthemum cultivation could be promoted . One of the projects of the steering group is the use of television camera to measure the crop . This involves collaboration with AgriData Innovations ( ADI ) , the Delft - based company that ab initio started with drones but has been pore on camera engineering science and computer imaginativeness software for crop monitoring for the last three years .
Business developer Pim van Geest of ADI : " Drones are minuscule and wanton . That ’s ideal , but they have challenges with shelling living and reach stable photo timbre . specially with data point assembling using cameras on a prominent plate , you desire to have dependable photo timbre and preferably as quickly as potential . " That ’s why drones are no longer used at the three Zentoo growers . Instead , a method was sought where a camera could take flick static and fast .
camera on spray boomsA spraying boom driving over the chrysanthemum crop daily , so that robot is an excellent server for a camera . Pim van Geest : " We first equipped the spraying boom with one camera that captures one bed of chrysanthemum , and currently , there are two cameras on it , capturing two beds . We ’re moving towards six cameras for six seam . "
These cameras use computer vision package to measure the length , leaves , and bud of the crop . This information is then mechanically imported into the QMS , the refinement management system that Delphy develop for a big turn of crops , including chrysanthemums . QMS Chrysanthemum determines how production and character can be maximized . It uses datum regarding weather , lighting , polish strategy , and processes that into development role model for the respective harvest .
Step by stepKlaas van Egmond , Teelt Engineer at Delphy : " Growers want the data point in the QMS to be reliable and consistent . That ’s why the first step was to formalise the data from the cameras . The growers manually measure the length of the stems , and an automatic scale checked the weight of the stems . "
The data provided by the cameras is not the only input for the QMS : mood dominance system and selective information about the diversity are also part of the QMS calculations . Van Egmond : " There is an enormous amount of information , so the ontogeny had to be done footstep by step . You ca n’t develop something like this all at once . That was a real lesson from this project . " Middelburg : " That ’s integral to projects like this . It takes longer than you desire . And sometimes , you blank out the rattling things you ’ve already achieved . "
Eye - openerSince the closing of last class , the system has been operational at three Zentoo agriculturalist , including Leen Middelburg Chrysanthemums . It will soon be present at two other growers , tell Pim van Geest . Chrysanthemum grower Middelburg : " We now have a better reason of how the craw sense . Over the preceding few month , we ’ve made unlike cultivation decisions based on the new organisation . It often test to be a real eye - untier . "
For more information : AgriData Innovationsagridatainnovations.nl
Frontpage photo : © André Muller | Dreamstime
