Robotic platform to treat zucchini with ultraviolet C
Two trials conducted at the research station proved that repeated nighttime applications with ultraviolet C (100 – 280 nm) is effective in controlling powdery mildew (De Mey & Pollet, 2022. UVC treatment effective against powdery mildew in zucchini. Acta Horticulturae, under publication). As a practical research station it is our goal to bring innovations to the growers. For UVC treatment to be cost effective, the use of a robotic autonomous platform could be interesting to investigate.
During the season 2022, Inagro combined the UV system with such a robotic platform and gained experience on this new technique. This first proof of concept turned out to be promising as the demo trial went on. Although quite high infection in general, the untreated control (on the left side of the picture) showed a higher powdery mildew infection than the treated plants (right side).
This innovative case is a small example of what Inagro can mean for companies who want to bring new solutions to the market. Concert smart IPM techniques Inagro is the coordinating lead partner of the Horizon 2020 thematic network called SmartProtect. A whole array of solutions of interest can be found on our online platform https://platform.smartprotect-h2020.eu.
contact
Jonathan De Mey
Researcher horticulture