Elders : helps pave the ‘new world’ of potato growing at international congress

Potatoes play a pivotal role in Australia's horticultural sector, contributing the highest volume output across the industry, and the highest production value among Australian vegetables.

Australia's overall potato production increased by 24 percent (pc) in the past financial year, resulting in an annual yield of approximately 1.4 million tonnes and a production value of $1 billion.

South Australia alone plays a pivotal role in our nation's potato industry, contributing 30 pc to overall production, as the largest producer of Australian seed potatoes. Elders stands as the largest Australian supplier of fresh potato seeds, offering a diverse range of over 20 proven potato seed varieties to growers nationwide.

Elders National Category Manager Chris Willis opened the 12^th WPC on Monday addressing Elders' long-standing support of the Australian agricultural industry.

"Elders began in South Australia in 1839 and this year we celebrate our 185^th year of supporting Australian agribusiness," he said.

"We are passionate about making sure that ag communities continue to prosper now and into the future.

"That's why we are here today, to collaborate and share information with like-minded members of industry from around the world, to ensure our potato sector remains strong globally."

A panel discussion held on the second day featured Elders Potato Seed Sales and Operations Manager, Olivia Ryan, Managing Director of HarvestEye, Vidyanath Gururagan, and grower Glenn Murphy of Murphy Farms. Their discussions focused on HarvestEye's role as a technology provider in making the collection and analysis of data on farm more accessible to growers, improving efficiency and productivity during harvest and packing.

Mr Murphy says his business has seen noticeable benefits since using HarvestEye.

"We can now gather real-time data through GPS and yield mapping in our paddocks, producing custom datasets for informed decision making," he said.

Mr Gururagan highlighted the importance these types of partnerships, especially in Australia, have played in the research and development of the technology.

"This technology has been in the making for six to seven years now," he said.

"Unlike in England, Australia pretty much harvests potatoes year-round, and working in this environment has allowed us to learn and perfect our systems."

Mr Gururagan also discussed future developments that HarvestEye has underway.

"We have two major technologies we are currently developing, called Tuba Scan and Tuba Sense," he said.

"With Tuba Scan's ground penetrating technology growers will be able to gather yield estimations whilst their crop continues to grow underground.

"Tuba Sense, on the other hand, focuses on detecting defects and diseases in the cold stores, informing growers as to whether they should move their stock.

"The benefit for multi-crop growers is that all of these technologies will be transferable and commercially available across different crop types."

Elders is proud to be the sole reseller of HarvestEye in Australia, staying at the forefront of innovation to bring proven technology to Australian growers.

Recognising the integral role technology plays in the sustainability of the agricultural industry, Elders is committed to providing growers with processes that increase efficiency, quality, and yield certainty.