Valorize agronomic trials at CTIFL with Doriane digital solutions

The CTIFL, Interprofessional Technical Center for Fruits and Vegetables, is the reference agronomic institute for these species in France. For more than 50 years, its research work has ensured the competitiveness of these sectors through its expertise, advice and innovations. Why did they choose Doriane's variety testing software, to centralize their information on agronomic testing and organize this research work?

What made the success of this partnership with Doriane and what improvements has it brought to their work?

INSIGHT :

Experimentation management tools adapted to business needs

Former data management tools became obsolete and difficult to upgrade.

To be able to capitalize on IT skills (software and services) for a wide variety of research activities.

SOLUTION :

A standard software configured by Doriane experts

Standard software updated according to changing business needs and new technologies.

Configured and maintained by Doriane consultants who master the functionalities of the software and understand the business needs.

RESULTS :

A reliable and efficient information system

A single tool centralizes various research activities (species, protocols, etc.).

An efficient ticket-based user support system for managing requests of assistance

Secure and faster data entry on the tablet or directly in the software

How did the project go with the variety testing software?

After a thorough needs assessment, the Doriane team made a detailed proposal of the software and services needed for the digital transformation of the CTIFL's research services, which was accepted.

Doriane was chosen to manage the project, its evolution and maintenance. The consultants configured the variety testing software to adapt to the needs, in collaboration with the CTIFL's business and IT research teams. The researchers greatly appreciated the double expertise in agronomy and Database management of the Doriane team.

Teams in charge of Variety testing have been successfully equipped since 2017 for Apricot, Cherry, Nut, Peach, Pear-Nashi and Apple species.

New species and agronomic protocols have started in 2023, notably Strawberry, Tomato, Blueberry and rootstock trials.

More specifically, what are the tasks of the Variety Evaluation team?

It consists in evaluating the agronomic performance of new varieties and rootstocks. In particular, identifying new varieties and capturing their added value for the sector:

• Testing the capacity of varieties to adapt to French growing conditions: agronomic and qualitative performance in terms of organoleptic and visual quality.
• Refine knowledge on the most promising varieties, particularly the growing conditions and their performance in the sector (adaptation to transport and export).

Why modernize your research information system?

First of all, the research center's tools were becoming slow to use and difficult to maintain, as it is often the case with specific software that must evolve and be maintained by an internal IT staff. It was becoming impossible to change functionalities. It was tedious to ask the IT department for any new requests for evolution in data management tools and methods.

Data management is becoming crucial, as we have more and more data, and less and less time to manage it.

On the other hand, new needs are appearing, particularly with the growing importance of European research projects, with the need to share data in open data. The aim is to make data accessible and therefore well organized, highly secured and well split from the other sensitive data of the laboratory.

What are the advantages of using this variety testing software?

Doriane's software meets the business needs of our research teams. The numerous functionalities of the software allow us to computerize all types of experiment or trial and to secure the data.

Another strong point of the variety testing software is that it is regularly updated and maintenance is guaranteed. This is reassuring and should guarantee us an information system that evolves with our needs in the future.

A nice surprise in this project concerns mobile data entry on tablets. Fully integrated with the central software, the mobile app allows us to save time and avoid errors. We are in the deployment phase, it looks promising.

How is the collaboration with the Doriane team?

One of the key points for the success of the project was the effective dialogue with the Doriane teams. After the project Go-Live to finalize the configuration by adding business functionalities that were not included in the initial project.

The variety testing software has a lot of features, and the dialogue with Doriane consultants allows us to focus on the business needs with higher added value that can be easily configured. In particular, we have identified the online data entry directly in the database thanks to forms which manage measurements via peripherals and make easier the valorization of the data.

Doriane experts also know how to meet current needs without hindering maintenance and long-term scalability.

An example of benefit from this variety testing software?

For example, to analyze the taste quality of fruit, several measurements are made in the laboratory on an independent automaton: Sugar rate, acidity rate, firmness of the flesh.

The user can enter in the automaton unique identifiers of experience and materials, which allow to re-import the analysis results directly into the database.

Facilitating the link between the measurement tools and the central database Doriane's software simplifies data entry, avoids the risk of error and saves precious time!