This Cool Pest Prediction Tool Comes in Handy for Potato Growers
A weather-based decision support system that originated 15 years ago in the tree fruit orchards of Washington state has branched into the region’s potato fields, writes Thomas Skernivitz at Growing Produce. The Pacific Northwest Potato Decision Aid System (DAS) collects regional weather inputs and combines that with research-based data on local pest populations. It then alerts growers to when different insect populations may be active at different stages of their life cycle, helping ag crews schedule controls more precisely.
Researchers from three Pacific Northwest schools — Washington State University (WSU), University of Idaho, and Oregon State University — implemented DAS last May in and around the Columbia Basin of Central Washington where 95% of the state’s potato crop is grown.
DAS combines several layers of data to help predict problems that growers may face. And it’s an ever-evolving tool as new data becomes available.
In tree fruit, where administrators have been feeding DAS for 15 years, the system compares real-time weather data with researched models in different areas. So it has 11 insect models, seven horticultural models (such as tree bloom and honey bee foraging windows), and five disease/disorder models.
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On the weather side, DAS digests variables such as temperature, rainfall, and leaf wetness. These are all variables impacting crop growth, insect development, and pathogen risk.
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