DAS Website
The BC version of the Washington-based Decision Aid System (DAS) is ready for growers to use.
“All the relevant BC information has been loaded,” says Melissa Tesche, acting General Manager of the Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release Program(SIR). “It’s been checked by our local pathologists and entomologists and field service. We conducted Beta testing last summer and it’s ready for growers.”
DAS is a cloud-based tool combining pest life cycle models with environment data, local weather forecasts, management data, pesticide recommendations and time sensitive information to recommend the timing and type of intervention strategies that growers can use for pest management.
“What it does is put a whole lot of complex information at the individual growers fingertips,” says Tesche. “It’s not that the information wasn’t available before, but it puts it all together in one place.”
DAS is linked to your closest weather station, and you are able to track individual pests that are of concern. The system makes predictions of what is likely to occur in the next week or so and you can find management strategies, both conventional and organic, all from your cell phone, tablet, or home computer.
Charlotte Leaming at BC Tree Fruits Cooperative (BCTF) is quick to express her enthusiasm for the tool. “The biggest thing is that it gives growers real time information, plus a forecast so that they can plan better,” says Leaming.
BCTF field service staff all contribute to the horticulture message that Leaming sends out once a week, but sometimes it’s almost too late the day it comes out. “For fire blight you have to have the spray on within 12 hours. Scab, it’s 48 to 96 hours after the infection,” Leaming points out. “If it takes us 24 hours to get the message out to you, you have less time to respond,”
“Sometimes we post updates, but generally we only send it out once a week. If the weather turns cool, that changes the timing.” says Leaming. Growers could be monitoring the weather on their own, she says, but generally they don’t.
“DAS gives growers a really good tool where they can log on and see where we are today or tonight,” Leaming explains. “The system uses the “Dark Sky” weather forecasting program and combines that with pest cycle models that are loaded into the program.
"Not only will DAS show the current degrees days and how many degree days are needed before leaf roller eggs start to hatch, for example, but it also predicts how many days until the hatch starts", she explains, "So as a grower, you know when it will be the optimal time to spray and when it will be too late."
“That kind of detail is phenomenal,” she adds. In addition to the real time information and the forecast, Leaming explains that the information is specific to a grower’s individual growing region. ”You get to sign in at the weather station closest to you and get information reflecting the location of your orchard.” The diverse terrain, latitude, altitude and rainfall across the Okanagan all create variations in growing conditions. If a grower has multiple orchard sites across the Okanagan, he or she can register each one.
DAS is designed to support both conventional and organic growers. “I’ve seen some of the organic management recommendations,” comments Peter Simonsen, an organic grower from Naramata. Washington State has a strong organic orchard community, he points out, and they were an important part of the development.
BC DAS is specific to our region. As part of the BC version development, pest management recommendations from the BC Tree Fruits Production Guide were loaded to correspond with products registered in Canada.
Both BC Tree Fruits and SIR are urging growers to sign up. “We have about 30 growers signed up so far,” says Tesche. Field services staff can help member growers register and SIR is available to help all growers.
“I think that it is really important for independent growers to get on board with DAS,” Tesche says. “They don’t have access field services and DAS could really support their orchard management.”
The service is also completely free, Tesche adds. SIR is covering the costs of the program. “You can sign up yourself or contact us and we will come out to help you get started or get a group of growers together,” she says. “Get a log-in, go in and play around with it.”
Estimates from Washington say that 90% of the fruit acreage in the state is covered under DAS and growers report that on average, they save $75 an acre per year.
“The onus is on the growers to look at the site,” Leaming points out. “It doesn’t send you a message on your phone. But if they do go in and look at it they will get much more accurate information.”
“It’s just one tool,” Tesche adds. “You still need to put boots on the ground and go and see what is happening in your own orchard.”
For more information go to https://www.oksir.org/bcdas/.To sign up go to https://ca.decisionaid.systems/subscriptions/subscribe/new_subscription