TuberScan Venture

The TuberScan Venture project is revolutionising how potato crops are monitored and managed by using advanced remote sensing technologies to measure and model potato growth while they are still underground. This innovative approach provides growers with detailed insights into crop health and development throughout the growing season. Using a combination of drones, ground-penetrating radar, and other advanced technologies, TuberScan enables accurate mapping of potato sizes, forecasts future growth, and predicts optimal desiccation dates, ultimately helping to increase marketable yields. Early versions of the technology have shown success in demonstrations and are now undergoing field trials to fine-tune the system for various field conditions.

The Challenge

One of potato growers’ most significant challenges is accurately monitoring their crops’ health and growth during the growing season. Traditional small-scale sampling methods often fail to represent the entire field, leading to sampling errors and incomplete data. As a result, critical decisions, such as determining the optimal burn-down date, are often made based on inaccurate or insufficient information. This lack of precise data can result in suboptimal choices, negatively impacting crop yield, quality, and overall productivity. There is a pressing need for a more comprehensive, real-time monitoring solution that provides growers full visibility of their crops to support better decision-making and maximise returns.