Strawberry Quality Management Scheme (SQMS)
A unique and innovative product developed by DLV Plant BV in Holland, SQMS is the most complete and practical crop management tool for glasshouse/tunnel grown Elsanta crops on the market. Many of the leading Dutch strawberry growers base their production strategy and routine growing decisions on this system. Unlike other decision support systems, SQMS has been validated and proven in commercial practice over the past 4 years, with great success.
To participate in the scheme, clients are required to record critical data such as average temperature, incident light levels and fruit production into a specially created Excel data workbook for each crop area being monitored. Clients also register their cropping details (eg plant type, density, plant date) into the workbook, and send the information to their designated DLV Plant UK advisor on a weekly basis during the main growing season. (For heated glasshouse crops the weekly information may be supplemented by extra info on CO2, Leaf Area index, etc). From this data, the SQMS computer model provides information on how to optimise climate control settings for maximum autumn and spring production, together with predictions on future crop yield and timing.
The SQMS protocol has recently been expanded to provide decision support to Autumn-Spring Elsanta cropping in cold tunnels and table tops (including Spanish tunnels). Knowledge is now being added to allow decision support on Sonata and in the future, it is planned to extend the SQMS service to everbearing Strawberries, and Cane Fruit.
Another SQMS model has been developed for Elsanta tray plant propagation, where information on temperature, flower and crown number, and Nitrogen fertilisation are combined to optimise growing decisions on water and feed for optimum flower numbers, and to determine when plants are at the ideal stage for cold storage. Virtually all leading Dutch propagators use this system and, as a result, have increased their crop knowledge and plant quality significantly over the past 3 years.
Charge for SQMS is a small initial fee for setting up the data collection work book (usually no more than 15-30 mins at our standard rate). Processing of weekly data and providing graphical interpretation and comments will usually take another 15-30 mins, depending on the amount of data provided.
Additionally, clients can subscribe to a weekly SQMS email, providing detailed information on climate control, cultural and husbandry advice for glasshouse grown strawberries. The cost of this service is an additional £300/yr for 52 issues.
This information is provided by DLV Plant BV Strawberry Team in Holland, but an English translation is available.
