A large part of the Czech potato area goes into the ground using two-row planters. Czech firm P&L is looking to speed up subsequent application of pre-emergence liquid fertilisers with a 6.0m-wide machine for tackling six rows at a time.
While this might not seem out of the ordinary, it is estimated that half of the country’s arable area is on hilly land, and P&L reckons the distances between the rows can vary on subsequent passes when working with a two-row planter.
Recommended in the show’s innovation awards, the clever feature of the Varior 500 potato cultivator is it uses ultra-sonic scanners to measure the distance between the inner of the two outer rows and outer of the two middle ones. Should this vary then the outer units slide in and out hydraulically by up to 50cm to ensure the star-rollers, which are designed to break up surface crust, remain on the tops of the ridges.
The tank capacity is 500-litres and the Varior 500 has a tractor power requirement of around 100hp. The company says it received orders for several machines for this season. Prices start from around €21,000.
