Bayer launches its xarvio Field Manager for mobile and web in five EU countries

Bayer has launched its xarvio™ FIELD MANAGER in five countries – Germany, France, Austria, Poland, and Ukraine. The new digital solution is for now available in field crops such as wheat, barley, potato, sugar beet and oilseed rape. Further expansion to other crops and countries is expected in the coming months.

 

Field Manager will support European farmers in growing healthy crops by providing recommendations about the right dosage, timing and place of crop protection applicaton. It will for example help farmers manage some of the most damaging diseases in cereals such as Septoria Tritici and rust, which cause high management costs and can lead to severe yield losses if not monitored and detected early enough.

 

In the past months, more than 500 farmers around the world tested Field Manager and the results are very convincing: Through a more targeted application with variable rate application maps and an optimized crop protection strategy, farmers were able to manage pests and diseases more efficiently, resulting in up to 15 EUR per hectare higher return on investment. Also, one of the challenges with many precision farming technologies is complexity. Field Manager delivers a simple interface and is designed to integrate with precision agriculture equipment already available in cabs.
 

With its digital solutions, Bayer is paving the way for a new agriculture revolution that makes farming more precise, efficient and sustainable. “xarvio Field Manager will enable farmers to be more pro-active in managing their crops and be a step ahead of pests and diseases,” says Andree-Georg Girg, Head of Commercial Operations Digital Farming at Bayer. “As Field Manager is also available for smartphones, farmers have access to day-to-day information about the status of their fields at any time, and get notifications on when the right moment is approaching to protect their crops – only where and at the right dosage needed.” The Field Manager smartphone app is part of the solution and available at no extra cost. “Field Manager – with all its features – will help farmers work more efficiently, and save money and time,” Girg said.

 

xarvio Field Manager is a web-based decision support system that offers three main features for pro-active, efficient and targeted application of crop protection:

 

• The Spray Timer determines the right time for crop protection applications and gives farmers notice far enough in advance to lower the risk of infestation. It processes all available data from the field and uses tested modules to closely monitor the risk of specific diseases.
 

• The Zone Spray feature accurately determines the right dosage in every quadrant of the field. Frequently updated satellite pictures are processed to derive current vegetation zones in the field, and for each zone it calculates the optimal product dose. The dose recommendation is translated automatically into variable rate application maps, which can be downloaded to a USB stick ready to be used on all major sprayer terminals.
 

• The Status feature enables farmers to check the status of their fields at any time. On the smartphone, it gives all needed information – on disease and pest risks, growth stage, detailed current and forecasted weather conditions – in a nutshell. Also, it sends reminders to take action at the right time and in the right place.
 

“Field Manager is a valuable decision support system for farmers. It gives field-specific advice on timing and dosing of crop protection. Also, by providing predictions on spray weather conditions and in-field pest and disease development, it helps to reduce the uncertainty of decision-making,” says Girg.