Tips for optimal crop protection, by Erno Bouma (Part 2)

Why are we looking at humidity?

The relationship between crop protection and crop moisture may be unclear at first glance, but it is one of the most crucial factors for successful protection. This stems from the fact that drier crops produce more cutin in their leaves. This wax layer protects the crop from drying out, but also makes it very difficult for the leaves to absorb water-based pesticides, so any attempt to protect the crop with such substances fails in advance.

What humidity must be taken into account?

To ensure that cutin does not interfere with crop protection, the leaves of the crop must be sufficiently moist. However, whether the crop is in the right condition depends not on the relative humidity often viewed, but on the dew point temperature. This is the temperature at which the moisture in the air actually condenses on the leaves. Unlike relative humidity, dew point temperature is very stable and is not affected by changing temperatures, giving farmers crucial information about when to treat crops.

How can these factors be taken into account?

Given the major influence of humidity on the success of crop protection, the perfect time for spraying must be carefully chosen. This task could be quite challenging had it not been for our advanced solution. The FieldMate measures essential dew point temperature directly in the field and translates this data into easy-to-understand information. Then our Spray Planner takes plant moisture into account to help growers find the perfect time to treat their crop. This makes crop protection a simple task even without being an expert on crop moisture.