Teagasc to demonstrate field vegetable crop establishment and band-spraying at Crops Open Day
The Teagasc Horticulture Development Department are hosting the event and have invited growers and industry to attend. The demonstrations will take place at the Teagasc Crops Research Centre in Oak Park on June 25, running from 9am to 11am.
Some of the latest developments and commercial machinery for planting/drilling brassicas, root crops, alliums and cucurbits suitable for various farm scales will be demonstrated live.
The aim of the event is to demonstrate commercial and innovative equipment for establishing quality crops as quickly and as labour efficiently as possible. This will be increasingly important in attempting to establish crops between adverse weather events, particularly in the spring.
Speaking ahead of the demonstration, Head of the Teagasc Horticulture Development Department, Dr Michael Gaffney, commented: 'Labour costs in the field vegetable sector increased by 7.7% in 2024 and make up approximately 40% of the cost of production, while labour availability also continues to be a challenge.
'Continued adoption of innovative technology that requires less labour input and/or improves quality, and output is key for the sustainability of the field vegetable sector," he explained.
Band-spraying demonstration
In addition to the crop establishment demonstration, a band-spraying demonstration will also take place to show how growers can meet the requirements of the new label of root crop fungicide SL567A.
The use of a band-sprayer is now required when applying this product and this demonstration will inform growers of the correct approach to applying this fungicide.
Specialised Vegetable Advisor with Teagasc, Eoin Sweetman, said: 'Various technologies are available to achieve banded spraying, including very specialised equipment but it is also possible to modify existing sprayers to achieve a banded spray, which will be demonstrated on the day.
'Apart from band-spraying to meet label requirements, targeted applications of SL567A or other products such as liquid fertilisers reduces product usage, improving efficiency and sustainability.'
The Teagasc Horticulture Development Department will also present poster boards of some ongoing research in the areas of sustainability metrics for the horticultural sector, measuring Integrated Pest Management adoption and microbiological food safety.
This is the second field vegetable demonstration at the Crops Open Day following the mechanical weeding demonstrations at the Crops Open Day in 2023 and is an event not to be missed for growers and industry.
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