As the SIZA Environmental Standard embraces the use of technology as part of effective water management, SIZA has partnered with the FruitLook Programme by including a direct link to the FruitLook web portal on the SIZA Environmental SAQ.
So why FruitLook? It is an online tool that provides key near-real-time information to farmers in the Western Cape. It supports effective resource management by providing satellite-based data products capturing crop growth, water use and mineral condition – made available to users every week via the FruitLook web portal (www.fruitlook.co.za). FruitLook is a unique service in the world in terms of scale and history, having been launched in 2010 and now covering all major agricultural areas in the Western Cape year-round. FruitLook is fully funded by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA), and the service is offered free of charge to users in the province.
The data products support increased productivity of irrigation water and cropland, and contribute to the overall sustainability of the agricultural sector in the Western Cape. Farmers use FruitLook for assessing and comparing field water consumption, crop stress, water use efficiency, probe placement, and detection of water supply problems. Smart remote-sensing data enables producers to understand what is needed when and where, resulting in significant savings of water, chemical inputs, energy, and time.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the service has reached another level in terms of user support: all training and support provided by the FruitLook TechCoaches is now fully online, with bi-weekly webinars and ongoing client support calls being performed in either Afrikaans or English. Through these webinars, users can learn everything needed to implement FruitLook successfully, from registering a new field to understanding the data components and how to interpret them in support of effective day-to-day management decision-making. Now more than ever, farmers are relying on FruitLook’s remote sensing and reporting capabilities to view their crops, analyse their performance, and make well-informed decisions for their farming operation.
Through the link with SIZA, farmers will only have access through one portal to an additional service so that they can have quick and easy access to make effective day-to-day management decisions.
By David Farrell – FruitLook South Africa Manager
