CropSpec is currently available for delivery to the global agriculture market in limited numbers with mass market introduction in early 2010. TPA is a business unit of Topcon Positioning Systems.
Working with Topcon’s core competency in optics and in cooperation with Yara International, Topcon engineers designed CropSpec as a powerful crop canopy sensor. The Topcon system utilizes a two-sensor system that allows a farm operator to monitor plant conditions and apply fertilizer and other inputs only as needed.
The reading can be correlated to measure chlorophyll content, which is closely linked to nitrogen in the plants. Scanning the crop creates a map to indicate relative canopy vigour.
The information can then be analyzed to determine crop areas that need treatment, construct prescription maps for later application, or immediately provide variable rate application enabling variable rate application in real time.
Used with Topcon’s X20 console, CropSpec links to Topcon’s Maplink program, the industry’s leading variable rate control program for liquid sprayers or granular spreaders. The sensors measure nitrogen levels and Topcon’s X20 controller executes that prescription immediately, controlling the output of fertilizer in one pass.
CropSpec features two basic operation modes: a read/record mode and a fully automatic mode giving the operator a number of choices about how the variable rate application is determined from the sensor readings. Other features of the CropSpec system include a greater sensor to crop distance and a larger sensing footprint that covers more crop area per pass. Rather than viewing the crop from directly overhead, CropSpec’s oblique sensor view, in combination with the large footprint
enables more stable measurements in row crops at earlier growth stages.
CropSpec is coming to market after an extensive 18-month product qualification and competitor comparison testing. This global testing program consisted of systems being tested in the world markets by recognized industry leaders and scientists and at the Topcon agricultural test sites in Livermore, California; Concordia, Italy; and Adelaide, Australia.
TPA is the only precision agriculture manufacturer using its own test facilities that allow not only controlled and repeatable testing, but also hardware and software tests and validations on various tractors models and implements.
For more information please visit www.topconpa.com
