Villion farms is optimising the company’s grape production by utilising ongoing state-of-the art drone plant health monitoring systems offered by Aerobotics and improving the company’s economic and environmental sustainability through proactive scouting and integrated pest management systems.

Villion Farms Technical Manager Philip Lourens explains that Villion Farms recognised the need for more regular and detailed plant health feedback from their vineyards and wanted to eliminate unnecessary chemical applications. To achieve this, the company has contracted the services of drone technical company Aerobotics to undertake a detailed aerial mapping of the production units at three critical stages annually. The mapping is done during the grape flowering period, just before harvest and again in the post-harvest period. The results from the mapping process enable the production team to timeously identify where vines are not performing optimally due to nutrient deficiencies, pest infestations, diseases, and irrigation problems. The intensity of this mapping program is detailed enough to identify a single plant that is struggling. Often the problems are caused by something as simple as a blocked or underperforming irrigation emitter.

“We are very satisfied with the results that we have achieved through with Aerobotics,” explains Lourens.  “Villion Farms has been one of their clients from soon after the company was established, and they have based one of their important field trials/demonstrations on their activities at Villion Farms.” Lourens added that Aerobotics was also currently trialling a new system with Villion Farms which uses IPhone photography to count individual bunches to create harvest estimates.

The Integrated pest management (IPM) practices implemented by Villion Farms have achieved considerable environmental and financial benefits for the company. Lourens explains that since 2018, the company has been controlling pests through proactive pest monitoring and the treatment of pests through the implementation of insect mating disruption and the introduction of natural insect predators that eliminate these pests. They follow these practices instead of using any chemicals with red label chemicals. (Agricultural chemicals are labelled by colour according to their toxicity levels. The lowest level is blue, then yellow and the most toxic chemicals are labelled with red). Many of the international markets for table grapes do not accept fruit treated with these highly toxic chemicals The environment friendly approach to their grape production practiced by ASV Farms holds the potential to increase the returns from their fruit.

Lourens explained that they initially made a small start to this initiative in 2018. “At the start Liaan Janse van Rensburg, who was with Viking at the time, assisted us in establishing this system and today he is working for Aerobotics. This system was developed over time and today we have six full time monitors on motor bikes, who monitor at 200 to 280 spots per week,” says Lourens. “Since we started with this monitoring system, we have not sprayed or treated the soil with any red level chemicals. Not only is this alterative practice to the use of highly toxic chemicals good news for the environment, but it is also considerably affordable than the use of chemicals, and thus this practice is benefitting both economic and environmental sustainability,” he added.

Lourens explained that the three main pests that they scout for, and control are Medfly, False Codling moth and Mealy Bug. They use Anagyrus pseudococci to control Mealy Bug eggs, and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri to control adult Mealy Bugs. These insects are commercially bred for this purpose and supplied by IPM specialist producers. The data collected by the monitors is logged and disseminated to the farm management team by means of the In Field app, and this is integrated with the application platform used by Aerobotics. The farming units are divided into IPM management blocks with green, orange, and red colour codes, indicating the level of pest pressure.

The integration of the detailed and ongoing plant health monitoring programme and the proactive scouting supported by natural pest management techniques is optimising the yields and long-term sustainability of table grape production at ASV Farms.