Inagro: Investment in new equipment for quality determination in potatoes

Autumn 2022 Inagro invested in new equipment for quality determination in potatoes. It involves two investments, the first for sorting potatoes and the second for determining the fry color of potatoes

Optical sorting line

A first investment concerns an optical sorting line for determining the grading of potatoes. With potatoes, it is not only important to know the total gross yield per ha, but knowing the size distribution is at least as relevant. The new grading line is equipped with a 3D camera that can use a 3D sensor to determine the dimensions of each passing potato. This allows us to report the yield in all common classes, both in kg/ha, but also in number of tubers and average length per grading class. The new sorting line also allows us to determine 5 types of potato waste and provides automatic sampling for further quality analyses.

Color determination of potatoes

A french fry color determination machine was installed next to the sorting line this fall. The French fry samples are placed on a conveyor belt and pass under the color camera, which then determines the French fry color according to the USDA standard. This allows us to guarantee an objective assessment and also further digitize the data flow.

Further professionalize trial field operation
With both investments, they continue to focus on efficiency gains and precision. Because in their trial field operations and analyses, too, the concept of precision agriculture has become indispensable. These investments were made possible thanks to the support of the Flemish Agricultural Investment Fund (VLIF).

In the fall of 2023 a nice article about this appeared in the Dutch potato world magazine. In the fall of 2024 this article appeared again only in the international version (Potato world magazine).