Thursday 31 October 2019 Proefstation voor de Groenteteelt (Research Station for Vegetable Production) organized the first cucumber workshop of the UV-ROBOT project. During this workshop the growers, researchers and journalists present were shown the latest project developments. Jonas De Win (Proefstation voor de Groenteelt) introduced the UV-ROBOT Interreg project. The participants visited an ongoing cucumber test in which four doses are tested in a night treatment: 0 – 20 – 50 – 100 J/m² in 3 treatments per week. The two highest doses showed a significant suppressive effect of powdery mildew, but at 100 J/m² the plant is also affected if the treatment last for a long time. This is reflected in a smaller and faster aging leaf. A night dose of 50 J / m² seems recommended.
Lucas Coosemans (Octinion) showed the participants of the workshop the first vertical UV Robot. This robot can autonomously carry out UV-C treatments in the crop, so that treatments can be performed at night. The speed at which the robot drives through the crop determines the UV-C dose at which the plants are treated.
An IPM strategy for cucumber will be worked out in 2020, starting from a preventive UV-C treatment, possibly in combination with biological or chemical fungicides. You can read the results here in the course of the year.
