Modern farming increasingly benefits from digital technologies, including the digital services KWS delivers to farmers through its online portal myKWS. Now the portal has a new addition: Crop Manager. The tool provides practical assistance for all planning related to crop production, in particular optimizing crop rotation. “In light of expanding regulations concerning fertilizers and crop protection, a balanced approach to crop rotation is becoming more and more important,” states Dr. Malte Finck, who heads marketing for KWS’s Cereals Business Unit in Germany. “Optimizing crop rotations contributes to securing yields as well as to reducing diseases and pests.” And this is precisely where Crop Manager comes into play: In just a matter of seconds, farmers obtain an overview of all the advantages and disadvantages of specific crop rotation plans with up to four varieties. The agronomic evaluation primarily focuses on crop production issues such as plant health and tolerance. Advantages or risks are, for example, evaluated in terms of soil, pests and diseases. Information about what has to be observed for a particular crop rotation rounds out this evaluation. A direct comparison of possible crop rotations provides additional assistance for making the right decision. “Thanks to the company’s broad product portfolio, KWS does, of course, enjoy special expertise in offering crop rotation advice,” Finck says. “We’re really pleased to have the opportunity to share this know-how with our farmers. What makes our tool exceptional, though, is that business profitability considerations are also included along with crop rotation planning.” KWS joins with the Association for Technology and Construction in Agriculture (Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft, or KTBL) to provide standard values that farmers can supplement with specific data in order to quickly and easily determine costs for a particular farm-operation situation. Both past analyses and future planning can be reliably handled.
Crop Manager, which will also be further expanded in the future, addresses the actual needs of farmers. In the process, the tool provides assistance for making quick decisions both in crisis situations such as during a drastic upheaval as well as for long-term planning. It is the only electronic tool to combine crop rotation advice with key profitability figures. “Crop Manager captures a lot of KWS know-how, and makes decision-making easier. The self-explanatory tool is really easy to operate,” Finck says. “This is why we’re especially happy to now be able to launch our first version.”
About KWS*
KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. In the fiscal year 2018/19, more than 5,500 employees in 70 countries generated net sales of EUR 1.1 billion and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 150 million. A company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently for more than 160 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and sale of seed for corn, sugarbeet, cereals, rapeseed, sunflowers and vegetables. KWS uses leading-edge plant breeding methods to increase farmers’ yields and to improve resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company invested approximately EUR 200 million last fiscal year in research and development.
*All indications excluding the results from the companies accounted for using the equity method AGRELIANT GENETICS LLC, AGRELIANT GENETICS INC. and KENFENG – KWS SEEDS CO., LTD.
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