Nathalie Zwinkels
“Digitization is becoming increasingly important in horticulture and I am proud that this is also happening within Beekenkamp! We recently started working with LetsGrow’s app to digitize scouting.”
ls crop protection specialist, you are engaged in discovering and mainly preventing diseases and pests. In collaboration with cultivation colleagues, protocols are created for scouting and crop monitoring. In addition, Nathalie is supportive of representatives and customers. She also keeps in close contact with “the neighbors,” the surrounding growers at our sites to exchange information and knowledge. An incredibly important and diverse job that she is super proud of!
Recently, the Beekenkamp Plants Vegetables department started working with the LetsGrow scout app. A few months ago, a working group was formed with colleagues from the ICT department, cultivation and crop protection to compare different app providers. The pilot was run at the ‘s-Gravenzande site and is currently being rolled out to the other Vegetables sites.
How exactly does it work?
At the ‘s-Gravenzande location, our colleagues Yve and Patrick disinfect their phones and head into the greenhouse. They open the LetsGrow app, which was custom-made for Beekenkamp Plants. There are 9 traps in each department. These are numbered in the app by pad-leg number so there can be no confusion. They go down all the traps in the greenhouse and enter their scout counts in the app. Comments can also be posted, such as observations in the crop, and photos can be shared. Scouting in this way happens weekly.
The scout counts are transferred to the online environment on the PC where Nathalie can see all the results. The results are converted into graphs and tables with which a well-considered decision regarding crop protection can be made weekly in consultation with the growers/scouts. This consultation takes place at a fixed time during the week in the greenhouse so that the corresponding batch is always reviewed again.
The biggest advantage of this app is that it eliminates the need for piles of paperwork, everything is digital. Another advantage is that predictability can be created on recurring situations. The app and online environment provide a lot of valuable information that allows us to be even more alert on crop protection. Through this app, Beekenkamp Plants Vegetables is gaining a better understanding of what is going on and what threats are current. This insight enables faster and faster switching resulting in beautiful, healthy plants for the grower.
