Potatoes are very important for Belgium!
Pommes frites or more appropriately Belgian Fries are at the heart of a very important part of the Belgian industrial sector. Recognising this importance and future challenges to the sector, VITO in cooperation with other players in the field has developed WatchITgrow (WIG), an application that makes use of Sentinel-2 (and, in the future, also Sentinel-1) data to support and advise farmers with regards to optimised use of chemicals, irrigation, harvest time and many other parameters, saving time and cost for farmers.
The industry benefits through market information and can adjust their planning to become more efficient. The service aims at both increasing output of the sector and mitigating anticipated future effects such as climate change induced extreme weather events or labour shortages.
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