

The project, being backed by the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) on a commercial unit in Fife aims to reduce fungicide usage by maximising crop resilience:
“Our goal is to apply the right nutrients this season to improve crop health so it can withstand any disease,” said host farm manager, David Aglen.
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Hide Ad“We are looking at whether or not plant health can be improved through a tailored nutrition programme, and hopefully reduce, or do away with completely, the need for fungicides.”
He said that throughout the growing season a refractometer would be used to take Brix meter readings every week at the same time of day, in similar locations in the same field:
“A drop in the Brix measurement is being used as an indication of a drop in plant health,” said Aglen.
Brix is already used in the livestock sector to assess colostrum quality and in the horticulture sector to look at sugars in plants, providing a quick and simple indication of possible crop stress.
If the Brix reading falls below a particular threshold, a bulk tissue sample will be sent off for analysis, with the results becoming available within a couple of days.
Aglen said that a decision would then be taken as to which micronutrients or macronutrients should be added to correct any nutrient deficiencies that had been identified in the crop.
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