Potatoes SA has accumulated a wealth of information and incredible amounts of cultivar evaluation data over time. This data includes results from all production regions over many years: from yield and size to class distribution and specific gravity or SG, and much more. Over time, though, the question arose whether there could be an efficient way to make all this information that is sitting in a database or quite literally gathering dust on shelves, more accessible. Ultimately such a tool could potentially lead to better decision-making in terms of cultivar selection.
As a result, Potatoes SA has partnered and consulted with Matogen Applied Insights (Pty) Ltd, who is helping the organisation to tailor and engineer a solution for storing and accessing this valuable data. A dashboard (site) was created from were results and information can now be searched, filtered, and accessed in a user-friendly manner. Results are illustrated on simple graphs at the touch of a mouse or keyboard.
How it works
The dashboard serves up options on how to filter and access the data. Options include ‘National’, ‘Provincial’, and ‘Regional’ search options as well as a ‘Trial search’ and ‘Trial compare’ option (Figure 1). Up to four cultivars at a time can be selected and compared.
Figure 2 provides an example of typical search results for ‘Yield’, ‘Class’ and ‘Size’ distribution as well as SG for a particular season in the Sandveld.
The cultivar trial dashboard is a work in progress and will be expanded in the next few months. Once ready, it will be accessible on the Potatoes SA website. It is already proving to be an exciting step in the right direction for making our wealth of data accessible. – Enrike Verster, Potatoes SA
For more information, send an email to enrike@potatoes.co.za