Terres Inovia launches the new agricultural decision support tool "Sunflower: when to sow to harvest" online
Terres Inovia launches the new agricultural decision support tool "Sunflower: when to sow to harvest" online
Terres Inovia, the technical institute for the vegetable oil and protein sector and the hemp sector, has designed, developed and put online on its website a brand new free decision-making tool for farmers, « Sunflower - when to sow to harvest ».
This tool makes it possible to estimate the harvest date for sunflowers according to the choice of variety and sowing date. It thus completes the technical support and decision-making assistance provided by Terres Inovia to oilseed producers on a strategic aspect for farms, since the profitability of sunflower crops depends on their establishment.
A strategic tool for farm profitability and seed quality
Harvesting sunflowers in good conditions is essential to ensure the economic result of the campaign. A harvest that is close to the norms and sufficiently early guarantees the quality of the seeds due to the absence of oil acidity, reduces the risk of losses due to birds or end-of-cycle diseases, maximises the margin of the sunflower by limiting drying costs and optimises the preparation of the sowing of the following crop. However, the optimum harvest date is determined at the time of planting, by combining a sowing date adapted to the earliness of the variety. The new online tool "Sunflower: when to sow to harvest" estimates the ideal harvesting period for sunflowers according to the variety and the planned sowing date. It thus provides valuable information to guide farmers in their choices on their farms.
An easy-to-use tool based on frequency-based climate data
The "Sunflower: when to sow to harvest" tool has been designed for sunflower as a main crop and not as a catch crop. Depending on the location of the plot, the variety envisaged or, failing that, its earliness, it indicates the recommended sowing period. The user is then invited to enter the planned sowing date for his own plot. The tool then specifies the harvest date to aim for. It calculates the harvest time in 80% of cases and in 50% of cases, as well as the corresponding risk to the crop. This tool has been built from a crop model, frequent climate data over the period 2013-2022 and the expertise of Terres Inovia. It does not integrate the meteorological data of the current campaign.
A complementary tool to the "Sunflower seeding rate" tool
This new tool completes the « sunflower sowing density » tool, which is freely available on the Institute's website and which enables the number of seeds to be sown to reach the objective of emergence density to be evaluated. It is available free of charge to anyone who has created a personal account on the Terres Inovia website.
You can watch or re-watch on Terres Inovia's YouTube channel the IT Thursday of 30 March 2023 dedicated to the presentation and demonstration of the tool « Sunflower: when to sow to harvest ».