A fresh way to track and report chemical use
22-09-06
Fruit has been consumed by most civilisations since hunter-gatherer days and has been farmed for thousands of years. Many societies have developed to a point where the majority of the population lives in urban areas and large scale farms provide the food for many. The greater the scale of production, the greater the risk taken by the producer, and in the last century, artificial fertilisers and synthetic pesticides have been commonly used to provide the best odds for healthy crops.
As the scale of production has increased so has the scale of retailing. From local markets, to metropolitan markets, to local green grocers and grocery stores, now the buying power is with the supermarket chains. Supermarkets have been setting the rules for growers for decades now, from the quality and appearance of fruit to the packaging used.
Since the introduction of synthetic pesticides there have been consumers questioning the risks to health and the land, and organic and biological farming subsets of the industry have existed since conventional farming began using artificial chemicals. The current trend has been an increasing consumer demand for organic produce and reduction of chemicals where possible.
Over the past two decades a compromise between the two has been gaining popularity with integrated pest control and integrated production. European supermarkets have answered the call of the consumer with EurepGAP, which details the standards growers and packers must follow to sell produce to European supermarkets.
For whichever certification program producers follow, be it EurepGAP, organic certification or others, and for most exporters, one of the greatest challenges is the tracking and reporting of inputs including pest management methods – biological or chemical. Freshtrack software from GP Graders provides an integrated reporting and traceability system from the paddock to the supermarket for fresh produce.
Freshtrack, formerly known as Hortrack, provides carton labels including information about the origin of the fruit and can track all chemicals used. The new paddock diary can schedule growing activities, for example, irrigation, spraying and thinning. Inspection results, weather reports including rainfall, and other variables can be fed into the system which uses that information to adjust the schedule, for example after rainfall irrigation may not be required. At any point the grower can override the schedule with the exception being waiting periods required between some chemical applications and harvesting.
All chemicals used on each paddock are fed into the system by PC or in the field using a PDA. When the fruit arrives at the packing shed, the fruit from each paddock can be tracked through grading and cool storage and each carton is labelled with grower details which can include paddock identification. The carton number on the label can be fed back into the system and all reported information about the paddock and the planting is available.
The paddock diary also helps with budgeting and forecasting. All consumables and activities can be costed and the cost of a harvest from each paddock is simply tracked.
Freshtrack’s quality assurance module links testing results to the carton and therefore back to the paddock. All data can be retained as long as the standard requires and can be accessed on demand.
Freshtrack software tracks produce from paddock to retail outlet and back and along the way provides growers and packers with the tools to comply with even the most rigid certification standards.
Whilst this may sound very onerous it has become reality in Europe and there is every indication the transparency of a fruit’s history will become reality in Australia within the next few years. Supermarkets are already moving toward improved traceability standards, being only the first steps toward full electronic traceability.
For more information about Freshtrack software, please contact Freshtrack Software or GP Graders on +613 9585 9444, emailgpg@gpgraders.com or visit the GP Graders website, www.gpgraders.com.
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Freshtrack SoftwareTM Case Study: Border Packers
The introduction of Freshtrack Software™, a supply chain management and traceability system has assisted a Victorian citrus packing house to...
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