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Name of the RC + countries

RC Central Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Switzerland)

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

Within RC CE farmers manage almost 10 million hectares of arable land, which are two thirds of overall utilised agricultural area. This shows how important arable farmers are for our region and how crucial they are in securing food security.

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

Currently we are engaged in one FIE on arable farming, FIE 15 which is called ‘Precision Farming in Agricultural Practice’. Its goal is to deliver the advantages of digitalisation also to farms which have a comparably small amount of land through implementing smart and cheap management tools.

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

Previous challenges in arable farming like how to secure food production for a growing population without overexerting our finite natural resources will continue to matter in the future. Our main task – also in SmartAgriHubs – is to strengthen this approach by supporting the introduction of new, smart and digital technologies.

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

We provide agronomic and ICT know-how to companies. In fact, we are specialised in precision framing, smart farming, image analysis and mechatronics.

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

We are involved in ‘FIE 14 Vineyard Autonomous Mower Robot' where we provide expertise in the area of sensors and navigation.

We are also involved in ‘FIE 15 Precision Farming in Agricultural Practice' where we provide the agronomic know-how, which is integrated in the application.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

We are working to improve application maps (e.g. for fertilizing) through extensive field trials. We also develop new systems and methods for soil and plant sensing.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Agriculture needs to get more efficient (e.g. reduce CO2 and fertilizing) with less labor force available. Sensor systems are necessary for high level automation and open the way for CO2-free machines. However, these new technologies can only be successful if a multidisciplinary approach is used which integrates agronomists and technicians.

Contact info

Peter Riegler-Nurscher

Email: p.riegler-nurscher@josephinum.at

Website: josephinum.at

Facebook: francisco.josephinum and josephinum.research

LinkedIn: josephinum-research

What is the main goal of your DIH

Our task is to identify and evaluate the most promising innovations in global agriculture in order to provide our farmers with innovative solutions that make their lives easier.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

• Market screening and trend identification
• Organisation of various innovation formats in order to practically validate those innovations together with our customers (acceleration programs, innovation challenges, solution calls etc.)
• Support the implementation of our solutions on the market after our formats

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

For example, we currently run the BayWa & RWA Robotics Challenge 2019 in order to identify solutions that will contribute significant value to Austrian farmers in the future. Most of them have applications in arable farming.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

We need to support farmers in becoming more and more efficient in the future. Therefore, we scout solutions that help them to produce more with less. Also, biodiversity and ecological farming is a topic that we proactively support, since its importance will keep on growing.

Contact info

Andrea Köttritsch-Krautstoffl

Email: a.koettritsch@agroinnolab.com

Website: agroinnovationlab.com

Facebook: agroinnovationlab

Linkedin: agroinnovationlab

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

France has the largest utilised agricultural area in EU (27 million ha), covering 16% of the total EU - utilised agricultural area.

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

The 3 FIEs of the French RC are highly related to the arable farming: they aim to develop tools and networks that support the farmers in the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (either by assessing the farms performance impacts, facilitating the knowledge sharing or empowering the agronomists and technical advisors). 

We help them by connecting the actors through our network and by coordinating the initiatives (communication, project organisation, etc.) 

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

Aligning the economical performances of the farms with sustainable agricultural practices, at the country scale.  

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

We connect solution-providing companies, R&D organisations and producers, with the aim of building collaborative projects for co-innovation and economic growth all along the value-chain in the plant sector. Our 500 members are involved in all plant sectors, from breeding to food and feed processing.

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

We organise periodic meetings which gather companies, producers and R&D organizations on specific themes. For example, in July 2019, we co-organised a networking day on agricultural machinery for cross-pollination between equipment providers and new technologies providers. 100 participants were present for networking around the start-up exhibition and the on-field demonstrations of innovative tools.

On top of that, we also propose to companies personalised a agenda to meet key actors on their market to help them define their R&D and business strategy.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

We are involved in all plant sectors, from horticulture to arables. Many of the innovative projects we support target arables, as arables represent a large market in agriculture. Some examples: a Smart Agriculture System to modulate fertilisers at intra field level (wheat) or EVE for real time advice for irrigation at the field scale (maize).

We are also coordinating since 2016 the Territorial Innovation Laboratory for arable crops, a living lab involving 4 000 farmers on a 300 000 ha plain in the centre of France. This tool already make emergence some projects to co-develop digital solutions for precision farming such as IoT devices.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Sustainability is the key point. To improve our practices for a more competitive, qualitative, environmental and health-friendly agriculture, we need to move to a systemic approach of the farm, of its ecosystem and of the value chain as a whole. That is why we are a key player in some living labs to facilitate a multi-actor approach. This is also the reason why representatives of end-users such as cooperatives or producers themselves are very involved in the projects we support, as well as in the FIE 6 - AgriFarmLab in which we participate.

Contact info

Emeline Défossez,

coordinator of « New technologies and practices for plant production systems » department

Email: emeline.defossez@vegepolys-valley.eu

Wesite: vegepolys-valley.eu

Twitter: @VEGEPOLYSVALLEY

Linkedin: vegepolysvalley

What is the main goal of your DIH

It’s an experimental farms network built to help farmers by supporting new technology developments and with accurate evaluations.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

• Meet AgTech actors and test their technology.
• Organising open doors for farmers.
• Helping digital actors to improve their solution.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

5 of the 13 Digifermes are arable farms. Moreover, arable crops are essentials for all type of productions and are basis of the alimentation.  

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

We need to have a better view of climatic impacts and be able to grow crops more precisely, with the help of sensors for example.  

Contact info

Inès TEETAERT 

Email: i.teetaert@arvalis.fr 

Website: digifermes.com 

Twitter : @Digifermes

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

Excluding pasture areas, arable crops are predominant on the Iberian landscape. Strategically it’s a crucial form of agriculture for both Spain and Portugal, as it supplies the agri-food industry and animal feed. From maize to the north of the peninsula to barley and wheat in the centre, and rice from coastal regions, arable farming is a diverse and ever evolving part of Iberian agriculture.  

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

FIE 22 – Online Irrigation Portal is on arable farming. This experiment tackles one of the most important regional challenges: water usage. By connecting to end users and creating bridges for cooperation, RC Iberia helps FIE 22 to remain one of the cluster’s most active actors. 

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

In our region, water and input usage efficiency is a key factor. Digitalisation in farming processes coupled with innovative agri-tech is contributing to sustainable production and making a real difference for arable farming in Spain and Portugal. 

What is the main goal of your DIH

Andalucía Agrotech DIH is an ecosystem which helps companies in the digitization process of the agri-food sector.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

Examples of our activities include:

• Implementation of "Geoportal" an OpenData portal to make all the data generated by the Agricultural sector including Arable farming available to citizens.
• RAIF, the Network of Alert and Phytosanitary Information with predictive models of pests and diseases.
• Collaboration with startup accelerators to create specific programs for the Agrifood sector.
• We have made a diagnosis at the regional level of the different Agrifood sectors (including Arable) in relation to digital transformation.
• Creation of demoFarm Andalusia, a project that uses the new tools for digital transformation in agrarian communities in Andalusia, where the arable sector will be one of the main ones.
• Launch of two university masters focused on Digital Transformation in the Agri-food sector, preparing professionals with the new skills necessary for the sector of the future.

In general, we are an instrument of diffusion and a bridge between the different actors involved. We work to be a reference point in the international agri-tech field.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

Andalucia Agrotech DIH, is part of Flagship Innovation Experiment 22 Online Irrigation Portal. This is the FIE related to the Arable sector in the Regional Cluster Iberia. This experiment is very important in RC Iberia because in many areas of the regionannual precipitation is low making irrigation a key factor for crop development. The DIH supports the coordination activities among all the partners and generates synergies.  

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

There are currently many disruptive technologies in the Arable sector, but in the long term we believe that the use of different fully interconnectable technologies will be a key to change. These include blockchain, satellite images, IoT, automatic robots, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, etc.  

Contact info 

Judit Anda Ugarte 

Email: judit.anda@juntadeandalucia.es and dih.andalucia.agrotech@juntadeandalucia.es 

Twitter: @DIHAndAgrotech

What is the main goal of your DIH

To promote research and innovation in the ag tech sector for sustainable and competitive farming. 

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We organise meetings and workshops throughout the year involving a diversity of partners to promote new R&I projects in ag tech. 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

We have developed a strategy for cereal production in Portugal, and we work on a regular basis with the national associations and regional producer organisations that deal with arable crops (including cereals, maize and industrial vegetables…). 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

In the south of Europe, water management and control are very important. In addition, data management, DSSs and process automation are also crucial. 

Contact info

Rui Almeida 

Email: ralmeida@consulai.com 

What is the main goal of your DIH

The identification of agents, resources and capacities to design a wide catalogue of services in the challenges of energy, ecology, equality and economy that determines the business competitiveness based on efficiency in Extremadura.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We engage in the promotion of regional visibility (generate awareness, both among services providers and potential users/beneficiaries, to be recognised as a source for solutions to their competitive challenges).

We also foster international visibility: connecting supply and demand, both internal within the regional ecosystem and external with other DIHs at the European level (participation in platforms, forums and events in which we identify and define challenges and foster innovative solutions).

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

We are involved in two innovation experiments, one in ancient types of wheat and another in crop rotation with food and non-food crops for advanced biofuels. Arable is an interesting sector in Extremadura because we need to develop alternatives to increase farmers income and their production sustainability.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Precision Agriculture (PA), which is a whole-farm management approach using information technology, satellite positioning (GNSS) data, remote sensing and proximal data gathering. PA involves big data, drones, sensors, and farm management software. These technologies have the goal of optimising returns on inputs whilst potentially reducing environmental Impacts. Moreover, other technologies such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, genetic engineering also play an important role. In the end, we need all of these for the development of healthy and safe food and feed, that are sustainable, and increase or replace current sources. 

Contact info

Carmen Gónzalez Ramos (CICYTEX) 

Email: direccion.cicytex@juntaex.es 

Website: dih4e.eu 

Twitter: @FundecytPCTEX

Facebook: FUNDECYTPCTEX

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

Arable farming is highly relevant for our region, where rural areas represent up to 80% of the territory depending on the country, and where the primary sector has an important contribution to our economy, with indicators (GVA, employment) higher than the EU average.  

Arable land in Poland for example, accounts for approximately three quarters of the total UAA  (Utilized Agricultural Area), with cereals taking the largest amount (~70%) of this land. In terms of number of farms, over 85% of them are in arable farming. 

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

We have five FIEs in the region, and three of them are involved in arable farming. FIE 16 - E-Services Utilising Drones for Quantity Buyer is developing a drone-based e-services system for agriculture that can be used with various types of crops (e.g., cereals, potatoes, etc.). Another one is FIE 17 – Online Decision Support System Fertiliser Optimisation which develops a Decision Support System (DSS) for optimising fertilisers and improving soil management targeting mainly cereals. The last FIE, FIE 20 – Smart Groundwater and Weather Sensors is developing a web-based system for the integration and utilisation of large amounts of data from agrometeorological and groundwater measurements. We help these FIEs by facilitating interaction with regional DIHs/CCs, solving problems or finding people to help solve questions related to SmartAgriHubs (content, admin, etc.), and providing expert advice/support, monitoring their progress and activities, and supporting dissemination, among others.

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

IoT enabled devices, robotics, as well as data integration and analytics to turn data into value. We also need to pay more attention to climate change, therefore analyses of the weather forecast, evaluation of soil, water, and plant vegetation situations provides farmers effective resource management for achieving economically balanced yields and save the environment.

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

We are a leading applied research and innovation center in Poland in the area of ICT, and we are a large infrastructure provider (HPC, cloud, storage, network) both for the public and private sector. We develop ICT solutions for different domains, with a growing presence in the agri-food sector, and coordinates/support activities towards building a smart agriculture ecosystem.

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

We are involved in FIE 16 - E-services Utilising Drones for Quantity Buyers and FIE 17 - On-line DSS for Fertiliser Optimisation. We provide infrastructure, IoT solutions and ICT in agri expert support/advise.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

Both FIEs we are involved in provide solutions in arable farming. The services based on drones, address aspects like crops/field damages estimation, monitoring and forecasting draughts, NDVI diagnosis, etc., while the DSS will develop intelligent fertilisation strategies while taking into account optimal soil management in order to increase yield. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

IoT enabled devices, robotics, data integration are some important aspects that are playing and will continue to play a key role towards the realisation of a smart agriculture ecosystem. 

Contact info

Raul Palma 

Email: rpalma@man.poznan.pl 

Website: man.poznan.pl/online/en/ 

Linkedin: rapw3k 

Twitter: @rapw3k  

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

We advise farmers in our Wielkopolska region in technological, economical, ecology and rural development aspects. We help to implement solutions from science to practice.

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

We lead FIE16 - E-services Utilising Drones for Quantity Buyer.  And we are also the partner of FIE 17  - Online Decision Support System Fertiliser Optimisation. 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

We actually started with advisory ICT services for arable farming. Right now, we are developing the usage of drones in advisory services. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

The biggest challenges are climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and the commitment to the production of healthy food through crop optimisation. 

Contact info

Maciej Zacharczuk 

Email: maciej.zacharczuk@wodr.poznan.pl 

Website: wodr.poznan.pl 

Facebook: Wielkopolski-Brodek-Doradztwa-Rolniczego-w-Poznaniu

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

Cybernetic Technologies NETICTECH S.A. is a private investment company from the SME sector(over 6 years), established to stimulate highly innovative ideas through commercialisation and facilitated access to domain experts, research institutions and business partners. The company’s main activities have focused on information and communication technologies applied in a number of important and strategic areas including the Agriculture domain. We provide drones based services and implement e-services advisory system for agriculture with the use of drones and data from satelites and sensors.

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

In FIE16 Netictech is involved in the development of the ICT e-services of advisory system for agriculture with the use of drones and in FIE17 we are involved in ICT e-services of advisory system for optimization of fertilization.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

We do drone mapping of crops in Poland (Wielkopolska region)

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

• Further automation of the processes based on data collected by satellites and drones, IoT and machinery (precision agriculture based on accurate data and BigData / AI) 
• Optimisation of the water consumption (and in general water management) to face climate change challenges 

Contact info

Wojciech Józefowicz 

Email: wojciech.jozefowicz@netictech.com 

Website: netictech.com 

What is the main goal of your DIH

We consolidate efforts and make the uptake of agriculture and food innovations easier. We seek to become the go-to hub for co-creating, testing and implementing the next generation of innovations for the AgriFood sector.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We connect, foster and facilitate lasting cooperation between farmers, research institutions, innovation developers and other key stakeholders in the AgriFood sector. We support and initiate joint projects, host events and promote the uptake of innovative solutions.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

Arable agriculture is at the centre of our innovation efforts. Our partners and hub members have extensive experience in innovations for arable farming, post-harvest management and quality control, as well as are participating in major innovation projects such as IoF2020.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

The ongoing integration of current farming practices with new digital-based technologies has huge potential to transform arable agriculture as we know it. Robotics, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence – the intersection of these technologies will shape arable agriculture to become more productive, less wasteful and help farmers adapt to the increasing effects of climate change.

Contact info

Kristina Sermuksnyte-Alesiuniene

Email: kristina@agrifood.lt

Website: agrifood.lt

What is the main goal of your DIH

Our DIH aims to reduce the existing gap between the farming community and digital innovations. We help foster a broad digital transformation in the agri-food sector. 

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

The DIH combines around 900 producing farmers. We investigate farmers’ needs. We also support and initiate joint projects, organise training, host events and promote the uptake of innovative technology solutions. The DIH facilitates cooperation between farmers, research institutions, innovation developers and other key stakeholders in the AgriFood sector.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

FP DIH is involved in FIE 20 – Smart Groundwater and Weather Sensors. We cooperate with technological providers’ works in the development of a cloud platform for farmers, which will allow them to integrate innovative technology solutions.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

The utilisation of large quantities of agrometeorological, plant vegetation etc. data and models. Practical education and training on innovative technology solutions is also important, and farmers need strong linkages with scientists’ developments. 

Contact info

Inga Berzina 

Email: inga@zemniekusaeima.lv 

Website: smartagro.lv and zemniekusaeima.lv 

Facebook: zemnieku.saeima 

Twitter: @zemnieku.saeima 

What is the main goal of your DIH

The application of Robotics and automation in industrial applications, including agriculture.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

Building robot prototypes and their control software. This also involves prototyping them, which includes the full cycle – design, implementation and testing.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

We create multi-robot systems, where we design control and cooperation software. We are currently working on retrofitting existing industrial machines, such as for arable farming, and turning them into cooperative robotic entities.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Fully autonomous capabilities of relatively small devices. The main challenges are related to both technology and legislation.

Contact info

Dr. Agris Nikitenko

Adres: 

Department of Artificial Intelligence and Systems Engineering,

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology,

Riga Technical University,

Daugavgrivas str. 2, Riga, Latvia, LV-1048

E-mail: agris.nikitenko@rtu.lv

mob.:+371 29424825

tel.: +371 67089529

fax: +371 67089584

Linkedin: agris-nikitenko-300a5716

What is the main goal of your DIH

SmartIC DIH ensures that Estonian manufacturing SMEs can benefit in innovations in the field of robotics, smart manufacturing, IoT and AI and thus improve their business and production processes, and adapt business models to the digital change. In this way they can be globally competitive. 

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We host the FMS and Robotics demo-centre, Industrial VR/AR lab IVAR, self-driving vehicles development lab ISAEAUTO, and prototyping lab ProtoLab which has ca. 500 visitors per year (also policy makers, students and other visitors), to promote AI related technologies.  

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

We are involved in self-driving vehicles development (supported by self-driving robots/vehicles lab ISEAUTO). This technology is useful for arable farming machines. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

The development of digital twins and virtual and augmented reality (VR&AR) solutions in arable farming. 

Contact info

Tauno Otto 

Email: Tauno.otto@taltech.ee 

Website: smartic.ee 

Facebook: EstSmartic 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

In NW Europe 15% (Flanders) to 34% (Germany) of the total area is used for arable farming. We want to draw attention to potato production, which is highly concentrated in the NWE region with Belgium being the biggest exporter of frozen potatoes across all continents. Therefore, in Flemish digitalisation projects the potato industry plays an important role (e.g. the development of WatchItGrow). 

The last decade, the potato sector increased spectacularly, mainly thanks to the fast-growing potato processing industry. The (rather small, family) companies, producing pre-fried deep-frozen and cooled potato products, chips and other specialties, expanded their production capacity to a total of 5,2 million tons, leading to an increased area used for this sector. This huge amount, of which a part is intended for the fresh market and export, is not even enough to meet the demand in Belgium. Therefore, potatoes are also imported in Belgium from the other countries of the so-called “EU potato belt”, i.e. The Netherlands, Germany (also both part of the NWE cluster), France and the UK.  

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

Our Regional Cluster is home to FIE 9 – Deep Learning & Hyperspectral Imaging (AI 4 AGRICULTURE) and FIE 10 - FarmCube. 

We help the FIE partners/companies with their visibility: we timely inform them about upcoming events and nominate them for international talks. We also make the connection between the DIHs (e.g. Smart Digital Farming) and CCs (e.g. UGent) and the FIE partners to make sure the FIEs are appropriately supported. We also help building and expanding the ecosystem of our FIEs partners.  

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

The arable sector, and especially the potato sector, will face some major challenges in the near future due to climate change and the limited availability and decreased allowed use of plant protection products. The latter leads to an increasing demand for innovation. One of the newest tools, using remote sensing, is WatchITGrow (VITO). The next few years, WatchITGrow will further evolve into an online decision and advice tool thanks to the integration of smart farming and the results of several research projects. Furthermore, data sharing initiatives like the datahub for agri-food will also play an important role in helping to combine and interpret the large amount of available data in order to support our farmers in their management decisions.

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

Our core business is digital farming. We accumulate fundamental and applied knowledge and provide technical expertise and new technologies concerning drone flights, hyperspectral imaging, smart precision farming, precision livestock farming, and data sharing initiatives. 

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

We are involved in four FIEs in RC North West Europe. Two of these are in the arable sector. 

For FIE 9 - AI 4 AGRICULTURE we provide expertise on drone flights, hyperspectral imaging and precision farming applications. We are actively supporting and performing the field trials. For FIE 10 - Farmcube we deliver knowledge and expertise on drone flights and task map generation. 

The theme of this newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

ILVO develops precision agriculture, which is key to making the traditional agricultural system more sustainable, as a living lab. This living lab Precision AgroFood provides technological tools (drones, robotics, sensors) and business-related knowledge (innovative monitor techniques, business automation, labour reduction). ILVO wants to unlock the economic potential of the upcoming data revolution and to heighten the competitiveness of Flemish farms with the development of (this) living lab(s).

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Both technological evolutions (drones, robotics, sensors) and evolutions in business management (innovative monitor techniques, business automation, labour reduction) are important and will induce a rapid data revolution in the agri-food sector.

Contact info

Simon Cool 

Email: simon.cool@ilvo.vlaanderen.be 

Website: ilvo.vlaanderen.be  

Twitter: @ILVOvlaanderen 

Facebook: InstituutVoorLandbouwEnVisserijonderzoek 

LinkedIn: Instituut voor Landbouw, Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoek 

What is the main goal of your DIH

To be a multi-stakeholder support provider in order to act as a consultative body for innovation in sustainable food systems; and to facilitate access to new digital technologies in close collaboration with competence centres, universities and the agri-food business. 

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We closely follow up the 4 FIEs which are active in Flanders. Meanwhile SDF develops new initiatives (demo’s, proof of concepts, proposals, business cases) for digital transformation projects in Europe. 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

SDF supports several arable projects such as the SmartAgriHubs FIE10 - Farmcube and FIE 9 - AI4agriculture. It is also active in IoF2020 arable use cases and several local potato projects on remote sensing and variable rate management. At a national level, SDF is involved in the living lab Precision Agri- Food and other Flemish Smart Farming projects. Hyperspectral imaging and AI are some of the core interests of our DIH.  

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Data-integration and AI-application in food systems, for three reasons. 

1. to make it profitable throughout the whole value chain (to be economic sustainable);  
2. to show broad-based benefits for society (to be social sustainable); 
3. to have a positive or neutral impact on the natural environment (to be environmentally sustainable). 

Contact info

SDF is linked to several CCs in and outside Flanders 

Contact info SDF:

Peter Rakers 

Email: peterrakers@smartdigitalfarming.be  

Website: smartdigitalfarming.be
LinkedIn group: Smart Digital Farming – Flanders BE 

Twitter: @SDF_Flanders_BE 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

Arable farming plays a significant role in Scandinavia: Broadly speaking, 1/3 of farmers live on clean crop production, 1/3 are pig producers who depend on crop production primarily for feed, and 1/3 are dairy farmers who also depend on crop production for feed. The crops cultivated are mainly: wheat, rye, barley, rapeseed, oat, maize. 

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

We have 3 FIEs in the region. All of which involving  elements of arable farming. As RC, we mainly bring the DIHs and CCs together with farmers to facilitate the development of digital innovations in the sector. 

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

In our region, many Arable farmers tend to invest in modern equipment. However, both farmers and their advisers often lack the knowledge to keep their equipment operational. 

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

Our key competences are Agriculture 4.0 and related technologies. We are experts in ISOBUS technology in arable farm machinery.

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

We are supporting FIE5 ‘Valued Grain Chain’, which is an Arable experiment. Within the scope of this FIE. we provide our expertise in IoT technologies and the management of complex digital systems.

The theme of this newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

Our Competence Centre focuses on automation and information management of crop production and enabling precision agriculture. We have been working with arable farming and precision farming related technology for over 15 years. In fact, we have been active in the adaptation and implementation of ISOBUS technology to arable farming machinery.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Automation is important, but in coming 50 years the connectivity of machinery and its integration to the whole arable farming system for smart might become even more important.

Contact info

Pasi Suomi 

Email : pasi.suomi@luke.fi 

Website : www.luke.fi 

Twitter: @LukeFinlandInt 

LinkedIn: Lukefinland 

Facebook: Luonnonvarakeskus 

What is the main goal of your DIH

Our goal is to enable innovations and the digitalisation of bio-based production by connecting actors for synergy.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We support players in arable farming and related industries - such as machine and input manufacturers and grain processors - to find each other and support them in developing the digitalisation of their activities. For example, last week we helped a machine manufacturer to find and get in touch with the right people in standardisation work so that they could get their views heard. 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

Arable farming is one of our three main focuses. To make it an innovative and sustainable food system is one of our objectives.  

We help cereal producers and other actors in the food chain to get familiar with new technologies. We also help developers in their cooperation with those farmers to create added value products and to increase profitability. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Food production is digitalising and, in the future, it is crucial to be able to manage complex networks and to adapt to rapidly changing consumer requirements. Connected agriculture 4.0 is just the first step in this transformation. In the meantime, mitigating the effects of climate change will become the driving force behind changes in arable production. Moreover, in this context managing carbon and nutrient balances and maintaining good soil fertility is crucial. Digital tools to measure and indicate the balances and value of the crops are necessary to manage this complexity.  

Contact info

Ari Ronkainen 

Email: ari.ronkainen@luke.fi 

Website: luke.fi/en/business-solutions 

What is the main goal of your DIH

We implement knowledge from universities in agriculture, and translate them into ICT solutions and also disseminate them through academic articles.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

SEGES supports local advisors with up-to-date and relevant knowledge and ICT solutions.

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

SEGES operates Denmark's largest crop database which encompasses data from 2.2 million hectares out of an area of 2.6 million. 80% of Danish farmers use our two ict solutions: farm tracking and crop manager. Both solutions are used by arable crop farmers. 

SEGES participate in 2 FIEs relevant for the areable area. FIE 3 ‘Digitising Farm Machinery produced by SMEs’ and FIE4 ‘Valued Grain Chain’ 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Increased transparency on production processes will become more important.

Contact info

Nicolai Fog Hansen 

Email: nfh@seges.dk 

Website: seges.dk 

Linkedin: Seges 

Facebook: Planteavl 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

Arable farming plays an incredibly important role in our region with a large number of mainly small producers. 

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

We have a number of DIHs that are involved in arable farming, including: 

• AgroHub.BG in Bulgaria; 
• Gaiasense in Greece; 
• DIH AGRIFOOD in Slovenia. 

RC South East Europe builds the necessary network for DIHs and promotes synergies among different actors of the SAH ecosystem.  

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

In the last years, precision agriculture techniques have become more and more known in the region, yet more efforts need to be made to speeden their uptake. Moreover, natural environment and biodiversity preservation, along with best water sources management are of high priority. 

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

AUA contributions address a wide range of issues related to food safety and environmental protection: food quality & safety, plant protection, water resource conservation, organic farming etc. We act as a coordinators and scientific consultants.

The theme of this newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

Among others, we are involved in actions related to plant production and improvement, we perform precision agriculture techniques to arable crops and monitor crops with the use of drones.

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

The future of arable farming and farming as a whole will depend on efficient resources management and on the effective use of technologies to ensure the needed amounts of safe and high quality food.

Contact info

Prof. Spyros Fountas 

Email: sfountas@aua.gr 

Website: aua.gr 

LinkedIn: Agricultural University of Athens  

Facebook : Agricultural University of Athens  

What is the main goal of your DIH

Gaiasense aims to provide data, tools and a variety of support services to SMEs and researchers in order to help them create new innovative Smart Farming services for agricultural professionals, focusing especially on small farmers. 

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We organise meetings between technology providers and our stakeholder. This includes knowledge-sharing sessions on lessons learnt from relevant activities. 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

Our DIH’s team and resources are involved in multiple pilots in arable crops in Greece, Poland and Ukraine, supporting crops like potatoes, corn and cotton among others. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

We need to pay more attention to data-driven Smart Farming services that target especially (but not exclusively) small farmers. This is essential to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability. 

Contact info

Vassiliki Tsafaraki 

Email: v_tsafaraki@c-gaia.gr 

Website: gaiasense.gr/en 

Twitter: @gaiasenseGR 

Facebook: GaiasenseGR

Linkedin: Gaiasense 

What is the main goal of your DIH

AgroHub.BG is a non-governmental not for profit organisation which functions as a Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) within the EU Strategy for the Digitalisation of European Industry. It is acts as a one-stop shop that will help companies become more competitive in their business / production process, products or services, by using digital technologies. The Hub will also support the digital transformation of the public sector. 

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

AgroHub.BG is active in the co-organisation of several events, including the recently concluded AgriTechHack in Bulgaria between the 13-14th of September. 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

We are currently working on an experiment regarding precision fertilisation with plant protection in sunflower, rapeseed and corn. Our focus on the arable sector stems from our combination of extensive and diverse sectoral expertise and our relationship with our local partners (the Grain Producer’s Association, universities and technology providers).  

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Our vision is that the main challenge will be to meet the rising consumer demand for production chain traceability, which is related to both quality assurance and environment protection. Therefore, we see blockchain technology as a crucial element to be widely adopted in arable production. 

Contact info

Mr.  Plamen Abrovsky 

Email: info@agrohub.bg 

Website: agrohub.bg 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

In June 2018 the total utilised agricultural area in the UK was almost 17.5 million hectares, covering 72% of the UK land area.  In Ireland, Arable crop production is undertaken mostly in the eastern, south-eastern and southern counties. It is one of the smaller industries within the agricultural sector - just 11% of utilisable agricultural land is under arable production.  

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

Unfortunately, none of our FIEs are involved in the arable sector. 

We do have a number of DIHs who work in the area of arables. Examples include: 

• IFA’s Soil & Water Team-Stephen Briggs, Deborah Crossan and Joe Collins 

• Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI Centre)- Jane Smernicki 

• The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)-Steven Bagshaw 

• Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), London 

• Waterford Institute of Technology – John Geraghty  

• Teagasc, Oak Park – Dr. John Spink  

• University College Dublin, School of Agri. Dr. Tom McCabe  

• Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Dublin. 

All of the above undertake research in differing areas of Arable farming, some with sites for research trials, open days and links with commercial industry.  

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

Arable crop production in Ireland and the UK is high input and high output with some of the highest cereal yields in the world being recorded here. Due to the moist temperate climate there is relatively high usage of crop inputs- both fertiliser and pesticides – which increases the cost of production dramatically. We have seen that the development of remote sensing technology in farming has led to many technological advances in how we manage commercial crops today. It has allowed farmers to precision manage crops with the aid of technology to identify and help treat problems, such as weeds, pests and diseases throughout the crop or even forecast the potential crop yield.   

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

Conservation Agriculture, Regenerative Agriculture and sustainable, climate resilient animal, crop and soil management systems. 

The theme of this newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

Our CC is a crop consultant, and a research and development advisor. We are also a national representative to the European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF) 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Low fossil fuel input land conservation-based production systems – low soil disturbance e.g. no-tillage, soil cover with crop residues, organic mulches and cover crops, diverse crop rotations including companion cropping and intercropping. 

Contact info

John Geraghty 

Email: info@geraghtyconsulting.ie 

Website: geraghtyconsulting.ie 

Linkedin: Johnpgeraghty 

Facebook: GeraghtyConsulting 

What is the main goal of your DIH

To develop the knowledge and technologies that will make modern farming more sustainable, resilient and productive.  

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

For instance, we plan the design, development and implementation of foliar nutrition research. 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

WIT offer two Level 8 degree programmes in Agricultural Science and Land Management including specific arable modules: conservation agriculture and sustainable crop management systems; integrated pest management; sustainable soil management; and sustainable water management. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Low fossil fuel input systems; alternative methods for fertiliser application e.g. foliar nutrition; new crop varieties with resilient traits, crop and cover crop associations, forage mixes are all becoming more important. 

Contact info

Peter McLoughlin 

Email: pmcloughlin@wit.ie 

Twitter: @WaterfordIT 

Facebook: Waterford Institute of Technology 

LinkedIn: Waterford Institute of Technology 

What is the main goal of your DIH

To develop the knowledge and technologies that will make modern farming more sustainable, resilient and productive.  

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

Through practical and interactive workshops, farm walks, video tutorials, championing farmers to promote peer to peer learning and on-farm demonstrations, we help farmers to put innovation into practice.  

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

IFA’s Soil & Water Team works across the arable sector, together with major landowners and on H2020 projects to look for solutions to sustainable food systems and to try to build resilience for the future of agriculture and land use. The team is involved in the following projects across the sector: 

• IFA’s Decision Support Tool on a digital platform:  

• Video Tutorials: 

• Polling farmers and land managers as to the barriers, incentives and levers that bring about behaviour change and the adoption of innovation. 

• Evaluating the impact of organic amendments on soil health and crop performance. 

• IWMPRAISE - H2020 project. 

• Agrocycle for a circular economy -H2020 research and innovation project. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

Remote sensing technologies, wider precision management farming techniques and autonomous vehicles, crop quality monitors of the produce being harvested, techniques that help to improve disease resistance, innovative techniques to improve soil health and water management, agroforestry systems to improve the biodiversity of farmland are all becoming crucial to the arable sector.  

Contact info

Andrew Lazenby 

Email: andrewl@i4agri.org 

Website: i4agri.org.uk 

Twitter: @InnovationforAg 

Facebook: i4agri.org 

Instagram: innovation_for_Agriculture 

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What role does arable farming play in your region?

Arable farming is a crucial crop in the region: it covers the main part of the regional agricultural surface, about 55%, and mostly wheat. In fact, Italy is one of the main wheat and rice producers in EU.  It is however a commodities sector which suffers from big price volatility, international competition, and related low profitability, in addition to pressing climate changes effects, like floods, droughts, and high temperatures. The bulk of the sector is comprised of small enterprises whose value is not only production but also environment defence, landscape design, and rural life protection. 

Do you have FIEs/DIHs on arable farming in your region? How do you help them?

We have several DIHs in Arable farming 

• AgriFood Digital Innovation Hub FVG 

• Cluster Tecnologico Nazionale Agrifood CL.A.N 

• Associazione “Clust-ER Agroalimentare” 

• AGRIDIGIT- Agricoltura Digitale 

• H-FARM S.p.A. Italy 

• Operational Group TINIA- Precision farming for small grain farms 

• Agricolus: Digital Innovation Hub e Agricoltura 

What are currently the most important developments in arable farming, according to you?

Arable products are staple food products of humans and with an increasing population, the need of a more sustainable, productive, and resilient to climate change production has never been more important. In this context of volatility, high competition, climate change effects, the development of the arable sector requires: a) innovation to increase productivity and sustainability, b) genomic studies to improve seeds quality and resilience, c) certified quality and supply chain strictly traced that answer to both industries and consumers expectations, d) agreements among the actors of the supply chain from farmers to industries to guarantee high quality products, adequate quantities, and right price.  All these measures together contribute to maintain the arable sector, whose importance is linked also to the management and protection of biodiversity, and to the services that they provide, in addition to the food and feed production, like environment protection, efficient use of resources, maintenance of rural society. 

What is the core business of your Competence Centre?

CRAST is a research centre of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, which promotes a multi-disciplinary approach for the implementation and application of "Precision Agriculture". CRAST also promotes the use of Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing techniques in research activities concerning rural land management and for the sustainable development of primary production. Particular attention is given to remote sensing and geo-spatial analysis of agroecosystems and processes that involve: 

• water saving  
• early detection of diseases and states of mineral deficiency  
• soil protection  
• reduction of environmental and food contamination.  

In which FIE are you involved? And what is your role in the FIE?

FIE # 25: The VINeyard ecosystem: an ideal case for data driven and PREcision based management (VINPREC). CRAST will support the technology provider CASELLA in making ground-truthing of canopy and thermal indices calculated via the new prototype of the multi-sensor MECS-VINE. Such activity implies sophisticated equipment for plant water status and gas exchange assessment. The innovations we help develop will also be relevant for the arable sector. 

The theme of this newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming?

The project deals with the Precision Viticulture sector in Italy to optimize the irrigation and soil management in the light of climate change.  These efforts are also highly relevant for the arable sector 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

We need to optimise cultural practices and the efficiency of the use of natural resources (i.e.water, soil fertility, organic matter). The technology should provide farmers with simple and easy-to-use tools to improve their production process from both economic and environmental point of view.  

Contact info

Stefano Poni 

Email: stefano.poni@unicatt.it 

Website: dipartimenti.unicatt.it 

What is the main goal of your DIH

Clust-ER Agrifood aims to promote innovative solutions for members and stakeholders of the regional agri-food production sector. 

The DIH also work to strengthen the collaboration between the Emilia-Romagna agri-food system and relevant international clusters and stakeholders.

What concrete activities do you do this week/ on a daily basis to reach that goal?

We engage in communication and promotion activities to Clust-ER members about innovative solutions and international partnerships. We also organise focus groups on specific sectors (including arable crops) together with researchers and enterprises to discuss the main problems and possible solutions.   

The theme of the upcoming newsletter is ‘arable’. What is your link with arable farming (an FIE perhaps)?

Some of our demo-farms active in Emilia-Romagna  conduct demonstration actions and varietal testing on cereals.  

Moreover, one of the main issues we deal with is the prevention and control of mycotoxins in cereals (Project “MycoPrev” co-funded by Emilia-Romagna region). CRPV, Piacenza University, Grandi Colture Italiane and Terremerse have tested the use of bio competitors for the control of maize aflatoxins. The results? A reduction of contamination of up to 90%. 

Other tests were made about the use of electronic noses, to detect possible contaminations on maize and wheat. 

What techniques will be crucial for a successful arable sector in the coming 50 years?

• Precision farming: detection of heterogeneity in crop or soil, data management,  and site-specific actions. 

• Valorisation of by-products and waste (residual biomass) for their energetic-agronomic-zootechnical re-use.  

Contact info

Mr. Gian Luca Barchi (EU Projects Department) 

Email: gbarchi@crpv.it  

CRPV (Crop Production Research Centre, Clust-ER’s member located in Cesena) 

Website: agrifood.clust-er.it/en/

Linkedin: agrifood-clust-er