Finns mobile pest warnings
Finns mobile pest warnings
FINNISH farmers are exploiting mobile phone technology to help them combat common pest problems.
Early warnings of pest and disease threats are now sent as text messages to Finnish farmers mobile telephones, so no time is lost planning control tactics.
For this season, 30 different warnings are available, including bird cherry aphid, pea moth, carrot fly and cabbage fly, plus potato blight forecasts. Results from a crop monitoring network will be added to the forecast information during the growing season, explains Kari Tiilikkala of MTT Agrifood Research Finland at Jokioinen.
The KasperIT service stems from a collaboration between MTT, the Finnish Meteorological Institute and Finnish Rural Advisory Centres. *