Ag Firms Unite for Advanced Crop Disease Solutions

Ag Firms Unite for Advanced Crop Disease Solutions Spornado, a Toronto-based company, has partnered with Agtrinsic, an agriculture-focused technology business, to develop a broad platform that assists farmers with better crop disease detection and offers more accurate decision-making data. A key component of this collaboration is the Spornado Spore Sampler, which captures airborne samples for DNA analysis. “The idea is to complete the disease triangle, so bring spore data into risk management and integrated pest management decisions,” says Spornado CTO Michael Saleh. “Before we came along, farmers would watch the weather and assume disease was present. Now, we’re adding data so they can identify if it truly is present and make more informed decisions about spraying.” The Sampler is unbiased in its approach, capturing all particles, fungal or otherwise, from the air on a cassette or “membrane.” It features a small, solar-powered fan that slowly pulls air through the cassette, aiding in collecting pathogens and air particles. Agtrinsic personnel collect the cassettes from the fields and ship them to the lab, where they’re uploaded into the Spornado database. From there, they’re transferred to the Agtrinsic platform. Depending on the crop type, the laboratories run tests for approximately 30 pathogens covering a dozen crops. Since the crop types are known, the labs run the related tests for the desired disease panels. Spornado recommends at least one sampler per 100 acres. Currently, most of the units are positioned in corn and soy fields. “Working with companies like Agtrinsic expands the informational reach, making the data available to more farmers,” Saleh says. “With this up-to-date information, they can make more accurate decisions about whether to spray and the best window of opportunity to complete it.” The Spornado Spore Samplers are manufactured in Toronto and are available throughout North America. They also have some exposure in two dozen countries around the world. Unit cost depends on the number of lab tests required and the windows of susceptibility to different fungal pathogens. Interested customers are encouraged to contact Spornado for pricing packages and availability. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Spornado, 219 Dufferin Street, Suite 5C, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3J1 (ph 416-516-1660; info@spornadosampler.com; www.spornadosampler.com).

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