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SUGAR BEET

Spot spraying in sugar beet based on drone imagery.

Potato volunteers, thistles and hedge bindweed sometimes survive the LDS system. With a Croptic weed map you can target these survivors precisely and minimise the impact on yield. Croptic detects weeds across the entire field and delivers a weed map that only sprays where needed.

sugar beet field
5–8%

higher yield

Less crop stress thanks to targeted spraying

Up to 95%

less crop protection product

Same weed pressure, proven result

1–2 days

from flight to task map

Task map ready within 24–48 hours

Crop info

What do you do with the weeds LDS doesn't catch?

LDS does its job on germinating weeds at the cotyledon stage, but every season some weeds survive the system: thistles, hedge bindweed and potato volunteers are the ones that most often persist stubbornly between the rows. Left untreated, they compete directly with the beet for light, water and nutrients, and cost yield. Croptic detects those survivors from the drone and delivers weed map(s) that let you correct precisely: only spray where it is really needed.

LDS SURVIVORS

Thistles and hedge bindweed are species that LDS structurally fails to control adequately and that form patches in the field.

POTATO VOLUNTEERS

Potato volunteers from the previous cropping year shoot up quickly between the beets and are hard to control with LDS. The plants compete with the beet and are a source of diseases such as Phytophthora.

SEASONAL CALENDAR

When does the drone fly for the corrective spray?

The optimal flight window for correcting LDS survivors runs from early May to late June, after a few LDS applications. When thistles, hedge bindweed and potato volunteers grow too big for LDS, but before you can no longer control them.

Season calendar

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F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Sowing period

Optimal soil temperature ≥5°C

Emergence

5–10 days after sowing in favourable weather

Weed pressure starts

LDS: 3–5 applications, cotyledon stage

Drone window

Optimal detection period for drone analysis

Canopy closure

6–8-leaf stage beet, end of weed control

Harvest

Campaign Sep–Dec

How does the Croptic correction on LDS survivors work?

Step 01

Drone flies over the field

We or one of our partners fly a drone over your field as soon as the LDS survivors are visible. The camera captures every detail in high resolution.

Step 02

AI detects the survivors

Our AI analyses the imagery and distinguishes thistles, hedge bindweed and potato volunteers from the beets and from each other. That way you decide which survivors go into the weed map.

Step 03

You drive the corrective spray

You load the weed map into your GPS sprayer with section control. Nozzles open and close automatically over the weeds. You only treat where needed, and the rest of the field stays untouched.

REGIONS

Timing differs by region, Croptic adapts.

FLANDERS

Sowing

15 Mar – 10 Apr

Drone window

1 May – 30 Jun

Weed peak

1 May – 30 Jun

Harvest

from 20 Sep

NL-NOORD

Sowing

25 Mar – 20 Apr (clay soil)

Drone window

10 May – 10 Jul (1–2w later)

Weed peak

10 May – 10 Jul

Harvest

from 1 Oct

NL-ZUID

Sowing

15 Mar – 15 Apr

Drone window

1 May – 5 Jul

Weed peak

10 May – 5 Jul

Harvest

from 20 Sep

Potato volunteers between sugar beet rows, from a drone's perspective

EXTRA VALUE

Target potato volunteers, thistles and hedge bindweed precisely.

Potato volunteers, thistles and hedge bindweed are the three most important weeds that LDS in sugar beet structurally fails to control or controls insufficiently. Croptic detects every plant or patch and turns them into a weed map, so you can tackle the survivors with a corrective spray. Without treating the whole field again, and with minimal impact on yield.

Splitting off uncontrollable weeds is also possible.

Frequently asked questions about Croptic in sugar beet

With the targeted corrective spray after LDS you typically save 70 to 95% crop protection product compared with a full-field treatment. Thistles and hedge bindweed usually grow in patches, so you only treat those zones, not the whole field.

Ready to target the LDS survivors precisely?

Spray less. Know more.

Read also: Potatoes · Onions · Cereals · Grassland