Crop Scouting
Crop Scouting Overview
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), around $70 billion in investment is lost annually to pest infestation of about 40% of agricultural produce. In a world where nearly 700 million people live in abject poverty while over 800 million others go to bed hungry daily, investment losses due to crop pest infestation must be averted urgently. Crop scouting is a farm management activity. It involves monitoring and physically assessing pest infestation on crops, its economic implications and risks, and the effectiveness of control measures to be implemented. The activity is futuristic as it enables avoidance of current events in future. Timely findings would prevent losses if control measures are applied in good time. Crop scouting can also be categorised as a precision farming practice due to its ability to address challenges on the field immediately they are discovered.
In other cases, scouting may identify reasons for a crop’s underperformance other than pest infestation. Underperformance may also be a function of diseases, soil, and nutrient deficiency issues. As an Integrated Fertility Management practice, crop scouting begins with a basic understanding of crop science which includes ability to physically identify a healthy crop and symptoms nutrient deficiency, pest or disease infestation. For cases where a large field in involved, farmers may be forced to rely on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to effectively cover all corners of the farmland. Tengrain Science has a team of experts trained to provide advisory services on crop scouting. Contact us today for more information.
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