b'for use on red potato varieties in Canada, but there are plans toUsing Precision Ag to Farm Smarterexpand its label uses in the future. Theres a lot more to your fields than what you see on the surface. As part of the smart farming project, researchers used precision Pinpointing Necrotic Viruses agriculture to map field management zones. Through the project, Some of the mysteries around necrotic viruses in Canada have beengrowers were able to expand on previous yield monitoring they had solved following a research project looking into them. While therebeen using. Field management zones were mapped to tell growers a are wide range of necrotic viruses this project focused on, the fourwealth of information.different ones known to be in Canada are potato virus Y (PVY),Growers have valuable data and they have to value (that data). alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), tobacco rattle virus (TRV) and potatoThey (have used) yield monitoring for many years. And most of mop-top virus (PMTV). them only look at us and say Yeah, there is more yield, less yield The project had three major objectivesto identify whatthere, (there) is already (value there) but there is much more to do necrotic viruses are in Canada, to develop an accurate way to detectwith those yield maps, Athyna Cambouris, precision agriculture PMTV in soil and investigate variety responses to necrotic viruses.scientist at AAFC, says in a Microsoft Teams interview. All objectives were accomplished, but the major achievement wasThrough mapping these management zones using technology the development of the PMTV soil test. such as ground conductivity sensors and yield monitors, growers Xianzhou Nie, a research scientist at AAFC Fredericton Researchwere able to learn about nutrient levels in their soil, water retention and Development Centre, and his team were able to develop aand other soil issues, which they then used to develop ways to procedure called high resolution DNA melting (HRM) assayimprove those management zones. for detection of both PMTV and its protist vector, Spongospora subterranea f. sp. subterranea (Sss), from soil directly. When the test was used on soil samples from fields across New Brunswick where PMTV or Sss infected tubers had been found, PMTV or Sss was found in 63 to 100 per cent of samples. Samples from fields with no infected tubers, were found to have no PMTV or Sss discovered.Previous tests had required the bait plant to be tested for PMTV infection, with Nies teams finding the soil in a suspected infectedFor in-depth stories on each of the research projects visitfield can be tested now instead, making for a faster diagnosis. spudsmart.com/category/viewpoints/canadian-potato-council/ HELPING YOU TAKE CONTROL THROUGHAUTOMATIONwww.ezratek.comCRATE FILLERST: (204) 331-3000BIG BAG FILLERS CONVEYORS PALLETIZERSSPUDSMART.COMSummer 202331'