Potato trial field: three campaigns with Meléndez X Origen

A potato trial field is only useful if what gets recorded can be compared afterwards. That idea has guided our involvement in Meléndez X Origen over three campaigns: we started with one field, a digital field notebook and satellite monitoring, and in 2026 Meléndez's campaign in Castilla y León is recorded on a single platform, with hundreds of plots across Zamora, Valladolid, Salamanca and Segovia.

A Meléndez programme, built on three pillars

Meléndez X Origen is the Patatas Meléndez programme to highlight the role of origin in potato growing. It began in late 2023 and rests on three pillars: training, trial fields and experiences. The programme belongs to Meléndez. We take part as a technology partner and provide the digitalisation side: the field notebook and traceability, satellite monitoring of the crop and irrigation recommendations.

2024: a first field to start recording

In the first edition, the trial field was in Villamarciel, with the Donata variety. We recorded the crop in the digital field notebook, from planting to harvest, monitored it by satellite and prepared a weekly irrigation recommendation based on the real state of the crop, not on the calendar. Donata reached its peak vigour (NDVI) on 24 July 2024.

2025: from data to decision

In the second edition the trial moved to the Corinna variety, and with two fields there was already something to compare. We published the first conclusions under the title “From data to decision”: Corinna reached its NDVI peak on 14 July 2025.

These are two varieties in two different campaigns, so the dates cannot be compared one to one. What they do make clear is something very practical: the vigour peak does not fall on the same day for every variety or every year, which is why an irrigation schedule tied to a fixed calendar falls short. Irrigate when the crop needs it, not when the calendar says so.

2026: from one field to a whole campaign

In the third edition the leap has not been one of technology, but of scale. Meléndez's campaign is managed on the VisualNACert platform: potato, cereal and legume crops, across four provinces and with hundreds of plots.

When every plot is recorded in the same way, each data point can be read in context. One example: of the plant protection treatments recorded in the 2026 campaign, 47.7% were against the Colorado potato beetle. It is the kind of question that can only be answered when all records are created with the same structure.

What we take away from three campaigns

The first lesson is that comparing requires recording once and recording the same way. A well-documented field helps whoever manages it, but several fields documented with the same criteria make it possible to learn from one campaign to the next, from one variety to another and from one area to another.

The second is that each crop sets its own pace. Vigour, water and plant health change with the variety, the plot and the year, and the useful information is the one that arrives at the moment a decision has to be made.

The third is the division of roles. The platform collects, organises, suggests and alerts. The technician and the farmer assess and decide, above all on what matters most, such as a treatment. The app alerts, the technician decides the treatment.

What this article does not cover

We do not include figures for water savings or yield, because we do not yet have a measured, sourced data point to attribute to the platform. We prefer to tell what has happened, campaign by campaign, and leave the figures until they can be backed up.

We keep building the data together with Meléndez X Origen, with the same idea we started with: making decisions based on real field data, alongside the farmer.

Shall we talk?

If you manage many plots, several areas or a trial programme and want your data to be comparable from one campaign to the next, tell us about your case.