Hello,
I have been trying to use FarmOS for collect data for vegetable growing which includes pest control (to kill the bugs/fungi/etc…) We grow all seasonal crops that are suitable for our area. We deal with all kinds of Pests.
because of the high amount of different pests and the high amount of different crops(many small to medium plots), the pest control is very sophisticated and data collecting helps alot. At the beginning I used Observation Logs and attaching each one to a “Pest Control” Log Category. My initial goal was to use Farmos for better decision making later. so this didnt work so well. I could not follow my pests, I could only follow my Plantings assets and filter my Pest control Logs, but could not make a connection between the pests (same pests in differant areas and diferant crops).
I started to to use the Animal asset for organize my pests in the field. each Animal asset is used for a specific Pest in a specific season. I built a Taxonomy for the pests by their types and families on the Species/Breeds. I use Observation Logs to collect data for each and I also attach these Logs to the planting and area that the pest is located in. this works just fine!
disadvantages of this process:
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when later filtering, the Logs that were attached to both Planting Asset and Animal Asset are doubled. i think its because of the quantity units that are doubled because of double connection to 2 assets.(in the Logs list, the Log is shown twice with the same ID) is this a bug? or its something usual?
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attaching an extra assets each Observation Log is not so good. can this be automated ? allso an Input log for spraing needs to attach for these 2 assets.
An example of the significance of using Pests as an asset:
each season, the first seasonal appearing of each pest is a precious data. I want to connect that to a weather data, rain data, plantings data or any data collected by Farmos. that could make miracles! my goal is to predict problematic pests with these datas and to implement experiments.
Another example:
When implementing a spaying substance against a Pest, espacially with organic ones, the seccess is very environment dependent. means that if i spray during the day, with high sunlight, most substances will beak fast and will not kill the Pests.
My impression for using Animal asset for pest control is good. but it feels not organized for actually using it on the fly.
the biggest benefit of it, is that i have a wide look on my pests in my farm. that actually gives me a better tool trying to kill these pests then before.
If I could filter my Species/Breeds by the differant plantings or even by the Crops/Varieties taxonomy that would connect all the dots for me (maybe for others?). Possible future Pest Control Module?
I would like to hear any suggestions for Pest Control usage in FarmOS.
thanx! 