The vigor of potato plants, defined as the canopy area at the end of the exponential growth stage, depends on the origin and physiological state of the seed tuber. Experiments carried out with six potato varieties in three test fields over three years show that there is a 73%-90% correlation in the vigor of the plants from the same seedlot grown in different test fields. However, these correlations are not always observed on the level of individual varieties and vanish or become negative when the seed tubers and young plants experience environmental stress. A comprehensive study of the association between the vigor and the seed tuber biochemistry has revealed that, while 50%-70% of the variation in the plant vigor is explained by the tuber data, the vigor is dominated by the potato genotype. Analysis of individual predictors, such as the abundance of a particular metabolite, indicates that the vigor enhancing properties of the seed tubers differ between genotypes. Variety-specific models show that, for some varieties, up to 30% of the vigor variation within the variety is explained by and can be predicted from the tuber biochemistry, whereas, for other varieties, the association between the tuber composition and the vigor is much weaker.

People without any knowledge can use artificial intelligence (AI) to produce more profitable cucumbers than the most experienced growers. This was shown in an experiment that Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands conducted last year in a greenhouse complex at their experimental farm in Bleiswijk. WUR researcher Isabella Righini cited this research at the Global Future Farming Summit, which was held in Wageningen recently. Experts there focused on precision agriculture and the robotisation of food production. Righini: "Producing food requires a lot from the grower. He must deal with the supply of raw materials, such as minerals for his crops. He must take care of the crops. And he has to market his crops. That is a complex operation. In the Autonomous Greenhouse project we are testing to what extent artificial intelligence can help growers grow crops."

Last summer, the Dutch national television made a small report on a large organic arable farm on the young sea clay in the province of Flevoland. Men and women were working in organic parsley, which was due to be harvested mechanically the next day. It still had to be manually stripped of weeds, such as polygonum. The question was whether field robots are already capable of taking over this unpleasant and labour-intensive (i.e. The farm's owner shares his thoughts about a robot taking over these chores in his fields in front of the camera.