From research to orchard speeds up adoption
BENEfruits 2025 brought together the international state of the art in sustainable pest and disease management in pome fruit and added a practical layer. Over one hundred fruit researchers from around twenty countries attended. The central question was how to organize reliable detection, appropriate timing and lower emissions in a systematic way. In Randwijk that discussion was put into practice straight away. Participants saw how camera based disease detection and targeted spraying with sensors and GPS are applied in experimental setups, which results are already robust and where further validation is needed. This created a shared view of what works, what can scale and which collaboration keeps up the pace without losing quality.
International results tested in the orchard
Researchers and advisors from Europe, the United States, South Africa and New Zealand shared recent results and placed them in the context of the production system. The value came from the follow up among the rows where measurement setup, repeatability and data processing under real world conditions were discussed with growers and crop advisors. Young talent was clearly present, PhD candidates presented strong work and received awards for best presentations. Their questions and observations helped narrow the gap between model and field trial and clarified the conditions for reliable application.
First detect with cameras then treat with precision
Early disease detection with cameras focuses on subtle deviations that the eye quickly misses and delivers a steady stream of images for algorithmic analysis. Combined with sensors and GPS spraying shifts from fixed settings to targeted application with a realistic prospect of lower pesticide use and less drift. This makes the effect of a treatment more measurable and builds confidence in decision rules that connect data timing and execution. In Randwijk this chain was reviewed step by step with attention to calibration data quality and reproducibility so it is clear what can be applied now and what needs further validation first.
BENEfruits 2025 continues in Randwijk with NXTGEN
From NXTGEN Agrifood we connect research groups suppliers and growers around concrete test cases and deepen methods in the field lab. By testing detection and application in conjunction we gain insight into the full chain from measurement to decision and execution and into the data standards and processes needed for reliable scale up. We are turning the energy from the symposium and the field visit into joint work streams with follow up research validation and data sharing in Randwijk and other test environments. This is how we put the values connection and depth into practice and invite teams to help build solutions that make a difference in production.