The sprout inhibitor CIPC has been banned in Europe since last year. It was a practical and inexpensive solution to limit sprouting of potatoes. Professionals have proposed numerous alternative solutions, and Arvalis, a French research institute focused on vegetables, is evaluating their effectiveness in supporting the potato industry in the “post-ICPC” era.
The number of tests has increased considerably over the past several years, and at the Villers-Saint-Christophe R&D station, the Arvalis teams have 20 small “autonomous” storage chambers to carry out their tests. For each sample, they calculate a germination index and take measurements several times during the conservation campaign.
In the framework of the work carried out by Arvalis to digitize its acquisitions of references (and in particular the Digistation project in Haute-France, co-financed by the European Union with the ERDF and the support of the Haute-France region), the automation of these long and repetitive annotations became a priority.
Arvalis was aware of Eurocelp’s expertise in detecting and recognizing defects in potatoes. Both of them naturally started talking about it. The technical teams sat down to draft a specification.
The game was by no means won beforehand, and the project was developed in two phases. The first phase (the POC or proof of concept) validated the technological feasibility of the idea. The second (design and manufacture) ended with the delivery of the prototype by Eurocelp to Arvalis last June.
Camera ResultsThe results are impressive: analysis time is divided by three, human time is divided by twelve, and the score is significantly more repeatable (no operator change, no fatigue). The precision is satisfactory despite the diversity of shapes and colors of the shoots.
For Eurocelp, this project is another challenge that has been successfully overcome:
“It is a test for the entire potato sector of our experience and our ability to meet the specific needs of our customers. Discussions have already started with Arvalis for other collaborations.”
“Enlist the technical institute of the sector to develop our new solutions it will be a great asset for the future.”
