In the past, seed variety trials conducted by Seeds2B involved a manual process that used Excel spreadsheets for collecting and analyzing data. Once completed, these would be stored in team members’ local computer drives. Adopting this method increased the potential for errors and duplicated data in trialing work conducted. It was also inadaptable and inefficient when conducting larger scale trials, not to mention the risk for data loss was high. With these drawbacks, it became necessary to create a tool that would support the efficient coordination of trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of the data. The Field Trial application (FTApp) was thus created, in collaboration with the Resonanz Group, a Swiss software developer, to make trial managers and technicians more efficient (for more on Resonanz).
Objectives
Add transparency to the overall Seeds2b trialing activities;
Improve data quality and analysis;
Decrease time devoted to trial creation, data collection and interpretation;
Allow for data compilation used in varieties advancement decisions, and;
Support market segmentation and the development of target product profiles.
The FTApp has been operational since 2019 as a web and mobile application. Since its launch, the application has helped manage field studies of already 20 crops in nine countries (including Kenya, Uganda, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mali, Myanmar, Senegal and Vietnam). FTApp users can create a product profile, create their trials, collect the field data, analyse the data and manage their candidate varieties portfolio, all digitally. Ultimately, this application enables the implementation of a demand-led and data-based varietal commercialization.
As a result, the number of trials conducted with a robust set of data collected and analysed has significantly increased. The FTApp has thus provided support for Seeds2B teams’ advancement to other stages of the commercialization process with their developed varieties. Over the years, we have improved this vital tool by adding other modules such as a statistical tool, to aid in data analysis. Keep in the loop as more modules are planned to be added in the future!
