Category Archives: research

smart farming picture

Climate Smart Agriculture

Digital Farming, research

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an integrated approach to managing landscapes—cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries—that addresses the interlinked challenges of food security and accelerating climate change.

The effects of climate change can be mitigated using climate smart agriculture. This could include developing new resistant varieties which are tolerant to heat, salinity and resistant to floods and drought, improving water management, soil conservation and with the use of new agricultural technologies to increase resource conservation and effective management techniques.

The goals of CSA approaches are to help guide actions to transform agri-food systems towards green and climate resilient practices. smart farming image

Soil health is at the heart of the new Green Deal in Europe and at the focus of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, both of which aim to tackle biodiversity loss, reverse climate change and support sustainable land use. However, according to current estimates, 33% of the Earth’s soils are already degraded while more than 90% are at risk of becoming degraded by 2050.

An example of Climate Smart Agriculture is based on the research and advances in tractor technology could help boost soil health and encourage climate-smart agriculture and promote no-till or reduced till agriculture. This involves planting crops without turning or digging the soil. Tilling kills unwanted plants and allows easier planting, it is costly and time-consuming and can lower the quality of the soil through soil compaction and erosion.

An innovative way to reduce reliance on tilling is ripping. Ripping mechanically breaks up compacted soil layers using heavy blades which break up compacted soil layers but crucially, unlike tilling, without turning them over. This can improve crop productivity and build resilience to both drought and flood conditions in a way that also reduces soil erosion and degradation. Despite the potential benefits of ripping the soil, its uptake has been slow and access to such technology remains low in many areas of the world.

What is Climate Smart Agriculture?
Find out more about CSA from the UN FAO Web site

digital farming banner image

Final SEED Project Report Published

Digital Farming, report, research

report cover imageSEED partners are pleased to announce the publication of their final report on Assessment Standards for Quality Assurance and 5 connected Annexes.

The report establishes a set of assessment standards that are attached to the Joint Curriculum, which comprises the content of the curricular units.

Some of the assessment standards were designed using the ECVET tools and methodologies.

During the last phase of the project international students carried out a three-months long mobility abroad where possible despite Covid restrictions, to pilot the standards.

Download the Standards and Annexes (in zip format)

 

data governance banner

Webinar: Data Governance Issues in Digital Agriculture. A farmer’s perspective

Conference, Digital Farming, Meeting, research

A webinar organised by the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Data Science User Group.

Friday, Nov 5, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Central US Time, Data Science User Group monthly speaker event:  

Foteini Zampati will talk about ” Data Governance Issues in Digital Agriculture. A farmer’s perspective.”

How to attend: The event will be hosted online via Zoom (https://illinois.zoom.us/j/92602473524?pwd=cExZQVN6UHFxVU1UR0Zad2JPaHZtQT09). To attend, RSVP at CU DSUG Event Page: https://www.meetup.com/CU-DSUG/events/btjlgsyccpbhb/

Abstract: There is no doubt that data-driven agriculture has increased the agricultural production and productivity, reduced the risk and improved resilience in farming, brought more economic and efficient use of natural resources, and helped farmers in decision making. The key actors in agriculture, farmers in general and smallholder farmers in particular feel that they are not the ones who are harnessing the benefits of digital technologies and discourages them from fully adopting them. Farmers have concerns about who controls access to, and sharing of, data that are generated on and their  farms, they have concerns about their privacy and their data rights, and in many cases they are not fully aware of the benefits of digital farming. They need assurances of their data sharing and control, they seek transparency and trust. This webinar will focus on farmers’ perspective and how they could actively participate in a more equitable data sharing and exchange in the agri-food value chain by contributing to the design of a fairer data governance framework. The development of ag codes of conduct is an example that will be explored.

Bio: Foteini Zampati is a legal professional with almost 20 years of experience. She holds an LLB in Law and LLM in European Union and Business Law. Currently she is working as an international freelance consultant on data privacy, compliance, and ethics. During her career Foteini has collaborated with various stakeholders, among them the United Nations of Food and Agriculture (FAO), the Kenyan Government, the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ) on international projects to develop policies, codes of conducts and guidelines for fairer and more responsible data governance frameworks.

She has also worked as a data rights research specialist to support the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative on Ethical and Legal aspects of Open data.

One of the main areas of her expertise is the research and analysis of national and international legislation on (Open) Data and Intellectual Property, ownership issues and data rights, compliance and best practices across all aspects of national and European privacy and security, as also data protection law and regulation (GDPR) in the agricultural sector.

Selected publications by the speaker:

speakers photo

SEED Conference, the project that planted innovative seeds

Conference, Digital Farming, research

Last September 2021 SEED – Smart Entrepreneurial Education and training in Digital farming – KA3 Erasmus plus project finished.

speaker picture

SEED started in 2018 and during 3 years of work established a lot of important collaborations among partners and the final meeting “Agrifood Digital Innovation” in Spello (Italy held more than 50 participants.

The conference focused on Smart entrepreneurship for the digital transition, attended by numerous experts from the agricultural sector, entrepreneurs and the Councillor for Agriculture of the Umbria Region, Roberto Morroni.

Matteo Giambartolomei – Umbraflor, Regional Nursery Company – General Manager, introduced the conference together with the “Corriere dell’Umbria” Director’s Davide Vecchi.

The debate addressed the agriculture sector and the discussion focused on the need to team up among all the farms and experts to ensure an efficient and successful presence on the market.

The Umbria region has to be competitive and offers the excellence of local products, which are undervalued. Thanks to the new digital innovation tools and the training of young people in the sector, starting in schools, we planted the first seed.

People attended and debated were: Alessio Miliani – Fertitecnica Colfiorito – Sabrina Annibali – Agricola Fratelli Annibali – Altheo Valentini – CEO of EGInA Srl – Venusia Pascucci – Dirigente IIS Ciuffelli-Einaudi – Fabio Rosi – Confagricoltura Umbria, Michela Sciurpa – General Director of Sviluppumbria.

Together with: Fabio Famoos of All Food SpA, Marcello Serafini – Director of Parco 3A Todi – Giorgio Scassini of Befood Srl, Gruppo Grifo Agroalimentare ,“Azienda Agricola i Chicchi” and Francesco Pace of Acacia Group.

Thanks to all participants!

picture 3

 

data banner

Digital Agricultural Data Webinar

Conference, Digital Farming, research
Register for Webinar which is part of the  Research Data Alliance Interest Group for Agricultural Data (IGAD)’s Coffee Break initiative. It will take place on 20 October 2021 at 13:00 CEST.

The webinar, titled Growing Digital Agriculture from the Grassroots: designing just and sustainable agricultural data applications will feature Sarah-Louise Ruder, Dr. Hannah Wittman, and Kevin Cussen, from University of British Columbia (UBC) Farm.

 During this webinar, Sarah-Louise Ruder, Dr. Hannah Wittman, and Kevin Cussen will present LiteFarm, a living case study for a tool that leverages digital technology for social and ecological justice. LiteFarm is a free, open-access, and open-source web-based application developed through farmer-led consultation by the (UBC) Farm, as well as through community-based research with farmers across North and South America. IGAD YouTube image

As a community-driven, free and open-source application reporting on social, financial, and ecological indicators, LiteFarm is unlike other digital farming tools. It equips farmers with the data and tools to make informed decisions about the health of their farm, their livelihood, their community, and the planet. Though still in early development, hundreds of farmers on six continents have adopted the platform to run their farms.

Even further, the presenters will facilitate a conversation on data governance, justice, and transitions to more just and sustainable food systems with questions including:
  • In the age of big data and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, what governance and economic models support food & data sovereignty?
  • What are data commons? Who gets to define and enact data commons? Who is involved? Who can share what and with whom?
  • What governance and economic models could secure the longevity of non-profit innovations like LiteFarm, without charging for access or monetizing farmer data without their informed consent?

 Registration is now open. Interested participants can register for the webinar  here.

The final webinar in the series is titled ‘Analysis of time series of Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 data – the new quality of information for Agriculture’ on 27 October 2021.

To watch past webinars in full visit the RDA/IGAD YouTube channel
biodiversity image

European farmers urgently need to diversify their activities, support from Horizon Europe

research, sustainability

According to Horizon, the EU’s  research and innovation magazine, boosting biodiversity on farms is crucial to make them more resilient to climate change and protect future food security. Researchers suggest however it will not happen without change across the food supply chain from seed production to consumer.

Research suggests the farmers most interested in promoting biodiversity tend to be highly-educated organic farmers – often women. This is related closely to the work of the SEED project, which assessed qualification needs and the importance of improving farming qualifications and innovation and digitalisation in farming practices.

There are many possible solutions to increase plant diversity on farms, these include planting different crops, or different varieties of the same crop, combining trees, crops and livestock on the same farm. However these are not often used by farmers, despite growing awareness of the economic and environmental benefits diversity offers.

Soil health is boosted by crop rotation, or planting different crops together on the samefarming funding image land. Farms also need to become less reliant on chemical fertilisers. Having a mixture of plant structures on farms – trees, bushes, hedgerows, crops gives greater diversity. Diversity in farming also provides a buffer against pests. Some plants can be used to attract pests away from food crops, and diversity provides habitats for their natural enemies.

The EU has responded to these needs under Cluster 6  of the Horizon Europe funding programme, which addresses Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment. It aims to reduce environmental degradation and tackle the decline in biodiversity on land, waters and oceans, through transformative change including digitalisation.

The programme deals with natural resources, food security, agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, food systems, circular economy, sustainable bioeconomy and forestry.

Horizon Europe Cluster 6 programme details 

seed conference banner photo

SEED Project holds its final conference

Conference, Digital Farming, research

The SEED Project (Smart Entrepreneurial Education & training in Digital farming) held its final conference on Thursday September 9th 2021 at the Brussels Office of the Umbria Region.

The conference theme was “New Educational Perspectives for Digital Entrepreneurship in agriculture“.

Download the SEED final conference agenda.

The event aimed to contribute to innovative actions concerning the design and implementation of education and training approaches that can help farmers and farm advisers develop the skills they need in the face of the digital transition in agriculture. It sought to examine digital entrepreneurial actions and activities in rural areas. Addressing the digital skills gap is not straightforward. It is necessary to construct an enabling environment of vocational qualifications so that skills development can take place.

Digital technologies hold the key to create a smarter, more effective and resource-efficient agricultural sector.  The conference heard about a number of existing digital solutions that can help their farms to become more sustainable and productive. However, the take up of digital technologies remains quite limited across Europe. There are many barriers to implementing new technologies, including relatively low levels of knowledge and skills needed to ensure a smart and sustainable digital future for European agriculture and rural development.

Download the conference presentationsagrihub graphic

Agrihub
LiveAdapt livestock farming
New educational perspectives for digital entrepreneurship in agriculture
Digitalisation in agriculture training
Connecting CEA Solutions to Critical Challenges
Colfiorito-sustainability
Entrepreneurial education in agriculture in Albania
Entrepreneurial Education in Agriculture: Navarra

keynote picture

 

SEED Project holds final peer review event

Conference, Digital Farming, Meeting, research

Partners in the SEED Project held their final partner meeting and peer review event in Ghent and Brussels on 7-9 September 2021.

The project welcomed more than 50 participants from across Europe to examine the outputs and activities of the project and help establish a plan for exploitation of the outcomes.

The exploitation plan was based on a workshop at the University of Ghent on September 8th 2021, carried out with more than 40 peer reviewers from across Europe.

The plan was developed to describe the activities that should be carried out to enhance the successful exploitation of the project results in terms of future development after the project has been completed. Exploitation planning usually  involves the promotion and use of the products or processes and placing them on the market.

An introduction to the project was given by the project coordinator Altheo Valentini from Umbraflor. The partners from Belgium, Italy, Slovakia and Spain presented the impact of the project in their own institutions, regions and countries.

The Powerpoint slides are provided here.

The actions and outcomes of the SEED Project

 

Following this introduction, a peer review workshop activity took place where participants were invited to add their expertise to the project by answering the following four questions:

  1. In what areas should the SEED Project continue to make an impact?
  2.  Who are the key stakeholders / targets to take forward the work of SEED?
  3.  Which parts of the SEED outputs can most be used by others?
  4.  How can we engage companies, training organisations and Ministries of education?

Based on this review an exploitation plan was presented at the final conference of SEED on September 9th 2021.

SEED peer review image

 

Draft SEED report on assessment standards

Digital Farming, report, research

Members of the SEED project have created a report on “Elaboration of assessment standards for national and transnational work-based learning activities”.  This provides valuable quality aspects developed through the use of the European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) framework.EQUAVET image

EQAVET provides VET providers with a straightforward way to monitor and improve the quality of their provision. It is based on a four-stage cycle of planning, implementation, evaluation and review which is at the heart of many other quality assurance approaches.

Introducing quality assurance frameworks in work-based learning is a recent priority in vocational training. Countries at the early stages of developing their quality assurance practices can learn from the experiences of those who have already implemented consistent quality approaches.

The report describes how the Quality Assurance process can be established to set standards for mobility actions and assesses national and transnational work-based learning activities. This draft version will be reviewed during the third international peer-review in September 2021 by the members of the Advisory Board of the project.

wheat image

Study: towards sustainable agriculture with biodiversity-friendly alternatives

Digital Farming, research, sustainability

A European Commission funded research study has examined sustainability of large scale intensive wheat farming and its impacts on the environment.

As intensive agriculture is associated with large-scale impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem services, food security and human health, it is important to shift to more sustainable, yet highly productive, farming practices.

The study assesses such practices in wheat, evaluating agricultural-management strategies at the field and landscape scales. The findings suggest that biodiversity-enhancing practices can support natural pest predation without use of agrochemicals — and that controlling pests and weeds by agrochemical means is less relevant than expected for final crop productivity.

Find out more

oecd banner

What role for the OECD Green Recovery Database?

report, research

As part of a Green Recovery post-Covid, Governments have the opportunity to unleash innovation, undertake wider reaching and fundamental restructuring of certain sectors, accelerate existing environmental plans, and make use of environmentally sustainable project developments. The OECD has established a database of Green Recovery initiatives to share what is being done and provide examples of innovative actions.

The OECD Green Recovery Database contains information from national-level environmentally relevant measures, at the moment spread over 43 countries and the European Union. It covers a wide range of environmental impacts beyond energy and climate, including pollution (air, plastics), water, biodiversity, and waste management, many of which are related to agricultural practices.

The results so far indicate that there are insufficient green measures to enable the necessary transformation towards long-term climate and environmental objectives.

The database deals with measures specifically related to COVID-19 economic recovery efforts with clear positive, negative or “mixed” environmental impacts across one or several environmental categories. What role can the database play in supporting and enabling action?

Find out more – Read the OECD Policy Brief

Organisations like CarbonBrief are also monitoring the work of governments on their greencarbonbrief logo recovery as countries look towards recovery as the pandemic’s impact starts to slowly recede. Visit their tracking of policies.

Based on the UN Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations have published a Research Roadmap for COVID-19 Recovery. It is important to note the extent to which science is being supported as part of recovery plans.

curriculum banner graphic

SEED publishes Joint Digital Farming Curriculum in 4 languages

Digital Farming, report, research

Partners in the SEED Project have developed and finalised the curriculum content for the Joint Qualification in Digital Farming. The results have been validated with national focus-groups and through international peer-review events. They are now published and available as a brand-new Curriculum mapped both on DigComp and EntreComp.

The curriculum can be used as a stand alone EQF5 qualifications profile in Digital Farming or as a modular and flexible VET course to update or integrate inside existing qualifications.

Download the curriculum below

Joint Curriculum in Digital Farming

Joint Curriculum (Dutch version)

Joint Curriculum (Slovak version)

Joint Curriculum (Spanish version)

 

 

SEED potato farm image

Smart digital farming at Van den Borne potatoes

Digital Farming, research, sustainability

Using huge amounts of data collected by all kinds of different sensors, Van den Borne potato farm manages to use the land more efficiently than most other potato farms. They know exactly which areas of soil need more nutrients, where pests are eating leaves, or which plants aren’t getting enough sunlight – and they are able to act accordingly. Van den Borne recently started their ‘own’ airport called Agri Drone Port Reusel to be able to legally fly the drones that they want to use for monitoring the approximately 450 ha farm.

The third-generation farm has become like a testing ground for technology that has been repurposed for use in agriculture. Because the company has become such an outspoken advocate for so-called precision farming, scientists and other agricultural innovators know who to reach out to when they have some cool idea they’d like to test.

Thanks to the sensors, and the stack of data analytics tools that are being used, the farmer can be exactly where he needs to be, when he needs to be there. And the best thing: He’s not afraid to share his knowledge. Jacob Van den Borne actually preaches the use of technology in agriculture – which is probably why some people call him ‘the pope of precision farming’!!

Find out more