AgroPages-BASF launches new platform for digital agriculture in Argentina-Agricultural news

BASF launches new platform for digital agriculture in Argentina

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By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

BASF, announced the launch of Xarvio, a platform that has two tools, in the Argentine city of Rosario. One of the tools is Scouting, used to detect diseases, and the other is Field Manager, aimed at the management and monitoring of crops in lots.

Jorge Pitton, manager of Technical Market Development of BASF, said that Xarvio can aid in the protection of crops of the fine harvest, wheat and barley.

"Through an application on the cell phone, with Scouting, a photo of the plant is taken and when transmitted, it identifies the type of disease and the percentage of crop damage," Pitton said. This comparison is made with a database that correlates to the image sent.

The other part of the platform is Field Manager, which in the first stage will be used by a hundred producers and consultants and aims to manage the field. With the batching of the lot and the sending of periodic satellite images, the program offers recommendations on the best time and place to apply fungicides, herbicides or insecticides.

"With an image resolution of 1.5 square meters, it recognizes weeds in the early stages," Pitton explained, as an example of the advantages of the application. "This allows applications to be planned at the right time and in the right place," he added. With a series of warnings in colors and based on climatic information, it evaluates the phenological state of the crop and establishes recommendations for application.

As reported, BASF conducted 44 trials, which showed a 70%-80% match between the information provided by the program and the advice given by the advisor. "It is not a competition, but is complemented by the work of the field advisor," said Martin Bender, commercial manager of Xarvio.

Agricultural advisor, Esteban Bilbao, stressed that the tools of digital agriculture will lead to an increase in efficiency in the application and spraying. "There are a lot of fields where monitoring is not done and this is going to help do it," he said.

Lucas Andreoni, CREA and Aapresid advisor, stressed, "In the world, there is a clear trend toward the traceability of food production. These tools help fulfill it. In addition, they avoid multiple applications because of doubts, and that applications are instead done at the right time and at the right dose,” he added.