SEPTEMBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
5 Smartphones dial up a new green revolution
Cloud computing revolutionizes how we handle data and farm the land The iPhone was introduced
10 years ago on June 29, 2007. Apple is now the world’s largest technology
Viewpoint GLEN LUCAS
company, with annual revenue of $233 billion. Microsoft, once the heavy hitter, is now in seventh place with annual revenue of $85 billion. With the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone, it is interesting to reflect on general technology trends over the past decade and what could be heading our way in agriculture over the decade to come. In tree fruits, it was rare
until five years ago to see growers with a smartphone. Now, it is rare to find a grower without one. A new feature that’s accessible via smartphone is the BC Tree Fruit Production Guide. With start-up assistance from the BC Investment Agriculture Foundation, the BCFGA initiated the on-line BC Tree Fruit Production Guide. Check out the interactive spray schedule, which uses “cards” to display information on mobile devices – [
http://www.bctfpg.ca/pestici des/spray-schedules/apple/]. The main driver for the on-
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line production guide is not the grower accessing the interactive spray guide (but it’s a great side benefit). The real driver for the on-line guide is to enable information to be electronically accessed by
third-party programs. To achieve this level of open access, the production guide is built on a database so that the information can be easily accessed on-line. The Sterile Insect Release
Program, in partnership with BC Investment Agriculture Foundation, is piloting a Decision Aid System that takes weather station information and weather projections, then anticipates the stages of an insect’s life using Degree Day Models. This allows growers to plan ahead of time to monitor and control insects. Another benefit of the on-line guide is that the pesticide information is always up-to-date with the most recent changes. When the guide was published on paper, it was accurate one day a year and out of date the other 364 days!
Beyond agriculture
The past 10 years have seen huge changes in computing beyond agriculture. There is no better
indicator of the enormous change in technology than some of the leading cloud- based companies (among the thousands that try): Google Chrome Browser; Snapchat; Instagram; WhatsApp; Android and Facebook. What do these advances in computer technology and cloud computing mean for agriculture producers? Information technology can lead to better, faster decisions for production, processing and marketing. University of Alberta defined “precision farming” in 1997 and the concept has evolved a lot since then. Generally, precision agriculture uses sensing devices (wavelength, temperature, humidity, wind, soil moisture and the like) to gather data. The data is processed, often at time of use (for example, irrigation, fertilizer application or pesticide application), to vary the volume of use, often varying volumes for individual plants (or, in the case of tree fruits, within the tree). This allows
management of yield and quality at the plant level, rather than the field level. A recent example of
precision agriculture in the field crop and tree fruit sectors are spray booms and tower sprayers that monitor where plants are growing, adjusting valves on each nozzle to vary the rate of
application, depending on what the sensors see. Spray booms, for example, can deliver more fertilizer to weak plants (detected as smaller- sized plants or using UV light sensors to measure plant stress). Organic vegetable and tree fruit producers wrestle with weed control. Several companies are examining how self-propelled equipment could locate individual weeds and remove them mechanically or with lasers – much of the work is in the programming and data analysis of camera images. In another common example, there is growing use of drones used by cattlemen to locate cattle. Combined with other information, this could lead to improved use of rangeland, for example.
Less controversy
The growth of these technologies is driven by the ability to transmit, store remotely and process vast amounts of data, to give agriculture producers (or the machines that they operate) the ability to make decisions or have precision decisions automated that will improve crop yields and quality, and to conserve inputs. The next 10 years will see practical applications of computer- based decision making and precision agriculture to make farming more productive and more adaptive. Technological innovation will likely continue to accelerate. The next green revolution has already started. Glen Lucas is general manager of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association.
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2018 Tree Fruit Replant Program ANNOUNCEMENT:
Application forms and the updated requirements of the 2018 Tree Fruit Replant Program are now available on the BCFGA website,
www.bcfga.com.
Project applications (along with the required Replant Plan) will be received between September 1, 2017 and November 15, 2017. Please avoid the last minute rush and get your application in early. An horticultural advisor is required to help prepare and sign individual applications for the 2018 Tree Fruit Replant Program. The following information will be provided to assist growers in completing applications.
a. A list of qualified advisors. b. Information on project grading. c. Program operational policies. d. A series of reports on replanting and variety performance and selection are available and should be referenced when preparing a Tree Fruit Replant Program Application.
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replant@bcfga.com www.bcfga.com
The Tree Fruit Replant Program provides funding for quality projects. Applications will be rated by a committee of horticultural experts. The rating of individual applications will be based on meeting the program requirements and on the quality of the Replant Plan. Projects will be placed in order of rating for projects, and the top-rated projects will be approved until all funding is utilized.
The Tree Fruit Replant Program is a 7 year program, funded by the Province of BC.
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