An interconnected network of plots/trials will be established in the three different areas and crops in order to evaluate the practical application and results of OPTIMA IPM solutions. Assessment of each segment of the system (disease detection system and DSS and selected synthetic and bio-PPPs) will be conducted in field conditions to evaluate their efficiency and optimise them accordingly. The developed smart sprayers will be individually tested, following the international standards, in order to quantify their performance in terms of spray deposition, coverage and drift reduction during the spraying process.
Measurements will be piloted in order to evaluate the whole OPTIMA IPM system (DSS + disease detection system + selected synthetic and bio-PPPs + smart sprayer) in order to quantify the benefits and improvements in comparison to conventional crop protection methods by measuring field efficacy and potential discrepancies from the expected effectiveness of the whole approach.
The OPTIMA developed IPM approach will be tested in three selected farm areas with the three nominated crops. The field trials for Alternaria leaf blight in Open field carrots will be conducted in France and especially in Landes and Gironde departments of the Nouvelle Aquitaine region which represents 32% of the French carrot production. The local OPTIMA Partners in France are IRSTEA, INVENIO and AGROCAMPUS OUEST. For the Apple scab disease in Apple orchards the trials will be executed in Spain and particularly in the Aragon region, where 11% of the Spanish apple orchards surface is located along with a high incidence of the specific disease. The trials will be conducted by OPTIMA partner, UPC. Finally, the field trials for the Grape downy mildew in Vineyards will be conducted in Italy and specifically in the Piemonte region, which holds 7% of the Italian vineyard surface, but with the highest production of high quality wines referred to the vineyard surface. OPTIMA is represented in Italy by UNITO and TERRE DA VINO.
