A new smartphone app offers growers a range of new tools including weed and disease identification along with a quick way to assess the contents of yellow water insect traps.

The Scouting app is the first of several digital tools that Basf plans to launch over the coming years under the Xarvio brand.

Its aim is to help farmers take a more precise approach to crop management by varying inputs within a field. There will also be decision-support tools.

See also: 7 essential arable farming apps

Available to download free from Apple and Google, the Scouting app has five main offerings:

1. Weed identification
2. Yellow trap analysis
3. Disease identification
4. Crop nitrogen status
5. Leaf damage calculator

Xarvio implementation manager Louis Wells says that with the weed identification tool, users take a photo of the weed with their phone and then upload it to the cloud.

Within a few seconds, depending on the connection, users get an automated answer along with a percentage certainty.

He adds that the artificial intelligence that analyses the picture will continually learn and improve as more pictures are uploaded.

Currently, it covers broad-leaved weeds and there are 117 plants in the database. The aim is to reach 800 worldwide. Grassweeds will also be included.

The yellow trap analysis is for use with yellow traps (not sticky traps) and is especially valuable given the increased monitoring of pests such as cabbage stem flea beetle.

Again, the user takes a picture of the trap and the app identifies and counts the captured insects.

It currently identifies cabbage stem flea beetles, pollen beetles and seed weevils.

The disease diagnosis function identifies cereal diseases such as septoria and rusts, again by taking a picture of a diseased leaf.

Precision farming tool

Currently being tested on farms, the Field Manager Tool is the next step up and can be used on a laptop or smartphone.

Mr Wells says it will enable farmers to take a precision farming approach to crop inputs.

Functions include:

• Zone Spray: This tool enables variable rate applications of fungicides and growth regulators based on satellite data. Trials are being carried out this year across several farms.
• Spray Timer: Predictive disease models calculate risk for the key diseases using information such as drilling date, variety, cultivation, previous cropping and weather. It notifies farmers when the calculated fungicide application window is approaching.