Re-envisioning whole field sensing with B-Hive’s Tuberscan Placing actionable insights at the hands of growers to minimise wastage supports packers and retailers further along the supply chain
LEADING agri-tech business B-Hive Innovations continues to deliver innovative solutions for the fresh produce industry via an open and collaborative approach to addressing supply chain issues. Through developing TuberScan - an above and below ground crop sensing technology - it has taken a
“We want to empower growers with meaningful data-led insights to make better-informed management decisions based on potato size, count and variation. When developed, TuberScan will help growers to more confidently identify areas of poor performance, when to make all-
major leap towards eliminating potato
growers to understand the performance
important burndown decisions, and
food waste.
of the whole crop underground. With
where growers should target inputs of
TuberScan we are trying to address this
fertilizer or irrigation. All these choices
lack of clarity.
can ultimately make or break a crop’s
The research and development project for TuberScan is funded by Innovate
marketable yield.”
UK’s Research and Innovation scheme
“The current practice of random
- collaborating with Branston Ltd,
sampling followed by data extrapolation
In its current iteration, the TuberScan
The University of Manchester and
to cover the field does not always
system comprises of radar, GPS units
Harper Adams University to create
account for variance within the crop and
and an in-field camera that surveys the
demonstration units.
can lead to inaccuracies in forecasting.
field throughout the growing season.
At B-Hive Innovations, we asked: why
The project has utilised and adapted
Effie Warwick-John, project manager
use labour-intensive sample data when
field-based technologies that were
on TuberScan at B-Hive Innovations,
cutting-edge technology will achieve
originally developed for the military -
says: “Potato growing is not precision
more accurate data across the whole
reapplying the knowledge and tools to
agriculture so it can be challenging for
field.
the arable farming environment.
18 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk
