After several years of research, Eurocelp teams have developed an algorithm capable of continuously detecting potato diseases. These are brown rhizoctone, common scab, silver scab and dartrose diseases. According to Luc Deroulers, founder of Eurocelp, this is a real novelty. "No one in the world has yet worked on this subject. It's a small market you have to know."
"The diseases concerned have major impacts on commercial quality," says Luc. "For the potato plant, depending on the degree of contamination, batches are refused on some destinations. And for ware potatoes, these diseases have a direct impact on the quality of presentation and therefore on the value of the batches."
Luc explains that the system was developed at the request of potato trading customers. "So far, they are doing this work manually on a small number of tubers. Eurocelp provides a precise and fast solution, making it possible to analyse a representative sample."
"Unlike optical sorters, the computation time is not critical, a very advanced algorithm makes it possible to be precise in detections. For each disease, the potato is classified as unharmed , mildly affected or severely affected."
This feature is part of a complete batch quality assessment service offered by Eurocelp: gauges, external defects, presentation quality and photos. "The equipment is installed in the customer's laboratory, which is faster, more accurate and more consistent."
With this algorithm, Luc aims to serve an international market. "In addition to France, we have customers in Spain, Belgium and Germany. The algorithm is also very interesting for countries like Egypt and Israel. Moreover, we will have a stand at Potato Europe in Belgium."
Luc Deroulers worked for 10 years in the potato trade. Based on this experience, he created Eurocelp, a tool for evaluating the quality of potato lots, in 2012.
For more information:
Luc Deroulers
Eurocelp SAS
Company hall - Activity 9
13 rue marie curie curie
10430 Rosières-près-troyes
Tel: +33 952 048 274/+33 674 944 283
luc.deroulers@eurocelp.com
www.eurocelp.com