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There’s an app for that Blueberry field guide coming to your smart phone


by RONDA PAYNE


ABBOTSFORD – Blueberry growers will soon have a new reason to walk their fields with smart phones in-hand. The BC Blueberry Council is wrapping up work on the new web- based blueberry field guide app.


Karina Sakalauskas is the contracted research


co-ordinator with the council who manages a variety of extension projects including the new app for growers which will launch at the Pacific Agriculture Show’s


Horticultural Growers’ Short Course set for the end of January.


The current guide (A Field Guide to Identification of Pest, Diseases and other Disorders in Blueberry Fields) is printed on pocket-sized, field-friendly paper, but obviously is a static tool.


The new web-based app will allow growers to zoom in on pictures for better detail, watch videos for further pest information and receive the latest updates to the guide which, as Sakalauskas explains, was in dire need of a refresh.


“Because the guide was done in about 2008, we have


to update the information,” she says.


In fact, that version of the guide doesn’t even include the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD).


Funding provided by Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia (IAF) has helped to bring the project to fruition. It began in 2015 when a discussion about the uses of smart phones and technology led to the idea that the field guide could be adapted to mobile devices.


Like the pocket guide, this version will have pictures of pests, diseases and other disorders that impact blueberries along with descriptions and details. While accessible from smart phones, the app will be web-based, which means growers can access it from any phone or desktop or laptop computer. This new, mobile-friendly guide will replace the printed version in delivery of information on the biology of pests, beneficial insects, diseases, weather-related disorders, pesticide damage and nutritional disorders. “Every grower has a


different mobile,” Sakalauskas says of phones. “Developing


an app is very costly; it has to be developed for all the different phone platforms.” Functionality and user access were priorities in development. Growers will be able to download PDFs and other documents from the web-based app on their phone, allowing them to take their device into the field and review information.


“We want growers to have that information… without having any internet connection or anything,” she says. The guide is all about identification.


Comparisons are easier in the field, which is why the paper guide was originally created. Now, growers will have access to more


information and the ability to identify issues with a tool they already carry – their phone. This online focus will also make it easier for a blueberry grower to determine their next steps, according to Sakalauskas.


“They can easily get the answer they need,” she says. “If they want more


information, they can go to our website. They can answer, “Now that I know I have that,


what do I do?’”


Growers will be better informed as a result of the mobile app and can take their findings to the berry


production guide, field rep or the ministry lab to determine next steps.


Of course, some issues will still require a lab test to verify look-alikes but management becomes easier when identification is clearer. This will allow for more tailored, precise and accurate use of sprays and other


management tools for better yields and improved fruit quality.


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • DECEMBER 2016


“We want to give the growers more tools in order for them to have a better approach to the solution,” notes Sakalauskas. “The first thing they have to do is


identification.” Feedback sought


After the launch of the first version of the app, growers will be able to use it, provide feedback via surveys and help steer changes towards the final version. Updates will be ongoing past the April project end date.


Sakalauskas


received input and assistance from a wide-range of


individuals to update the information and create the app.


“It was a long project,” she says. “It takes time and required input from a lot of people.”


Those individuals include pathologists Siva Sabaratnam and Vippen Joshi; entomologists Tracy Hueppelsheuser and Carolyn Teasdale; Eric Gerbrandt; Mark Sweeney; Doug Ransome; ES Cropconsult; BCBC blueberry growers and executive director Debbie Etsell. The blueberry growers field app has the potential to be extended to other types of berries in the future.


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