Author: Christine Horton

NEC has updated its agricultural ICT platform, CropScope, that it says helps resolve challenging farming issues. CropScope, which NEC has been operating with Kagome since April 2020, uses sensors and satellite photographs to visualise the growth status of tomatoes and the condition of soils. It also offers a service that provides farming advice using artificial intelligence (AI). The AI uses knowledge from cultivators to provide guidance on things like the optimum amount of water, fertiliser and the best time to apply them. This enables tomato producers, regardless of skill level, to stabilise their harvests and reduce cultivation costs, while implementing…

Hungary’s Széchenyi István University and Spanish IoT specialist Libelium have developed Hungary’s first smart agriculture laboratory. Funded by the European Union and the Hungarian Government, the Field Monitoring Laboratory is situated in Mosonmagyaróvár, in western Hungary, and covers more than 400 hectares of land, making it one of the largest ‘smart farms’ in Europe. In Hungary, agriculture accounts for 3.2 percent of the country’s GDP and plays an important role in rural development. In 2018, Hungary produced 7.9 million tons of corn, making it the 15th largest producer in the world. However, climate challenges and variations in soil quality mean that…

Headquartered in Zaragoza, in north-eastern Spain, Internet of Things (IoT) manufacturer Libelium is making waves in the world of smart agriculture. Founded in 2006 by Alicia Asín Pérez, the company’s solutions seek to monitor and improve the efficiency of everything from agricultural crops to water quality management around the world. Libelium’s technology is even currently being used above the tomb of Tutankhamun to collect climatic data – relative humidity, temperature – and measure fracture aperture behaviour above the tomb. Focused on using digital technology for environmental and sustainability purposes, Alicia Asín became the first Spanish woman to win the National…

Satellite-controlled pumps and machinery bring next level monitoring of water supplies to rural farms across Australia Australian farmers will be able to manage water storage and supplies in real time thanks to a new service being rolled out that combines mobile satellite technology and the Internet of Things (IoT). The service will be provided by satellite provider Inmarsat, IoT vendor to the agricultural industry Farmbot Monitoring Solutions (Farmbot), and Pivotel, an Australian supplier of mobile satellite services. The agreement follows Australia’s driest year on record in 2019. It will enable farmers anywhere in Australia to remotely monitor water tanks, dams and…

As customers demand greater assurance about the products they buy, more food producers are turning to blockchain technology to provide detailed supply chain information Transparency and traceability have never been more important to consumers when it comes to food. At the same time, farmers, producers and retailers are under pressure to minimise waste and ensure food safety and freshness – while looking to unlock supply chain efficiencies and boost the bottom line. The good news is there have been huge technological advances in this area within the last couple of years. One of the most notable developments has been IBM’s…

Plant-powered electricity could hold key to bringing energy to poorer communities Plant power may be key to providing energy to poorer communities with the world’s first plant-powered sensor transmitting to a satellite in space. The pilot Internet of Things (IoT) service, using plants as its energy source, can transmit messages about air humidity, soil moisture, temperature, cell voltage and electrode potential straight to the satellite. This can then potentially be used for data gathering from agricultural land, rice fields or other aquatic environments without the need for any external energy sources. The sensor doesn’t need batteries and will operate independent…