BOONE, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today xarvio™ released its xarvio™ SCOUTING app for the U.S. market at Farm Progress, the nation’s largest outdoor farm event. Using instant photo recognition, artificial intelligence (A.I.) and data sharing technology, the scouting app enables growers and agronomists to instantly and accurately identify weed and disease threats in their fields.
“With the xarvio™ SCOUTING app, anyone with a smartphone can identify weed and disease threats on a variety of crops, such as corn and soybean,” said David Gray, Commercial & Business Development Manager for xarvio™. “Regional diseases that may affect fields are difficult to know. The app’s unique crowd-sourcing means that more acres can be scouted and potential threats, such as Northern Corn Leaf Blight and Gray Leaf spot, can be identified before reaching your area.”
Crop scouting is time-consuming and requires detailed knowledge. Unlike other apps in the agriculture marketplace that require users to scroll through a catalogue of images, the xarvio™ SCOUTING app uses instant photo recognition to quickly and accurately identify weed and disease threats from an ever-growing database of images from local and global growers. The app is powered by advanced A.I. algorithms that continually improve precision and functionality through machine learning and data sharing.
The xarvio™ SCOUTING app was launched in Europe in November 2017 and is now operational in 90 countries with more than 58,000 users. The app has amassed a database of 150,000 weed and disease images and is on track to add an additional 100,000 U.S. specific images this year. Farmers and leading research partners across the globe contribute to this ever-growing image database — including more than 10 leading research universities across the U.S. including: University of Nebraska, Virginia Tech University, Kansas State University, Texas A&M University, University of Tennessee, Illinois University, Oklahoma State University, North Dakota State University, Southern Illinois University and Washington State University.
“This ag tech of the future will improve the speed and accuracy of threat identification, saving growers time, effort and money,” said Gray. “The scouting app helps growers and agronomists to be more efficient in maintaining crop health and reallocate the time traditionally spend on scouting to other farm priorities.”
To bring instant weed and disease identification to your crops today, download the app for free from the App Store and Google Play.
For more information about xarvio™ Digital Farming Solutions and the scouting app, please visit www.xarvio.com
About xarvio™ Digital Farming Solutions
Plan Smarter. Grow Better. Feel more confident, reduce your risks and get more security in your planning and decisions. xarvio™ Digital Farming Solutions is paving the way for a new agriculture revolution that makes farming quicker more precise, efficient, and sustainable. xarvio™ is a trademark of BASF.
About BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division
With a rapidly growing population, the world is increasingly dependent on our ability to develop and maintain sustainable agriculture and healthy environments. Working with farmers, agricultural professionals, pest management experts and others, it is our role to help make this possible. That’s why we invest in a strong R&D pipeline and broad portfolio, including seeds and traits, chemical and biological crop protection, soil management, plant health, pest control and digital farming. With expert teams in the lab, field, office and in production, we connect innovative thinking and down-to-earth action to create real world ideas that work – for farmers, society and the planet. In 2017, our division generated sales of €5.7 billion. For more information, please visit www.agriculture.basf.com or any of our social media channels.
About BASF
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has nearly 17,500 employees in North America, and had sales of $16.2 billion in 2016. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.com.