Presentation of gaiasense at the Final Event of the Internet of Food and Farm 2020 The European Internet of Food and Farm 2020 – IoF2020 project held its last event between 16 and 18 March 2021. Shortly before the end of the project, the event was an opportunity to present the results of it and to exchange views and experiences between project stakeholders and participants through an interactive online event. Among the participants was NEUROPUBLIC, as coordinator of Use Case 1.6 “Data-Driven Potato Production” or IoT4Potato, which aimed to support potato cultivation with services based on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies with Earth Observation data. More specifically, the action developed gaiasense-based smart farming technology tools and services, which aimed to reduce production costs, improve quality and reduce the environmental footprint of potato production in Cyprus, Poland and Ukraine. Nikos Kalatzis, Project Management Manager of NEUROPUBLIC and coordinator of IoT4Potato was among the invited speakers and presented the results of this action. Starting from the presentation of the gaiasense smart farming system, Mr. Kalatzis focused on how gaiasense was applied to potato cultivation in the three countries covered by this action. The presentation covered aspects such as the installation of the data recording system in the three countries, the development of the specialised application to visualise this data and the irrigation and crop protection models in each case. The presentation concluded with a report on the objectives achieved in the framework of IoT4Potato and the challenges that had to be addressed or will have to be addressed in the future regarding the application in other areas of the smart farming solutions developed in the framework of the project.
Gaiasense helps potato producers in Messinia to save their crop from bad weather The passing of the recent bad weather “Medea” during the previous days proved to be disastrous for many areas of Greece, both rural and non-rural. Low temperatures, frosts and heavy snowfall have hit outdoor crops hard, leading to a significant reduction in production. While most potato producers in Messinia were counting the effects of the bad weather on their production, some of their colleagues had early warning of the bad weather and the time to take the necessary measures to protect their production. These were members of the Agricultural Cooperative “Union of Messinia”, who, using the services of the gaiasense smart farming system, received early warning to start the anti-freezing process in the cultivation of potatoes, thus managing to protect them. As George Katsoulis, farmer and member of the Agricultural Cooperative “Union of Messinia”, told the newspaper Ypethros Chora, “We gained a great advantage as we did not lose part of the production, that is, the primary plant was not destroyed. The cultivation of potatoes is inextricably linked to the prefecture of Messinia, it is a demanding, costly crop that needs care and attention. So now, with the ally of the gaiasense and its presence in the field, we were able to move precisely, monitoring the temperature values in the soil, in the foliage and in the atmosphere. We also had the plant’s dehydration index, which plays an important role in this process, and with precision in time we started the anti-freezing process. Otherwise, and as has been the case over the years, we would have had to monitor the weather and when we thought it was necessary, we would have then applied the anti-freeze, with the risk of losing production.” More information can be found in the full article in Ypethros Chora.
Upgrading the gaiasense infrastructure in Cyprus The infrastructure of gaiasense in Cyprus serves the needs of IoT4Potato – Data Driven Potato Production (Use Case 1.6) which is carried out in the framework of the Internet of Food and Farm 2020 (IoF2020) project. This is the development and implementation of smart farming services in potato cultivation, which was recently selected among others for its extension and synergy with Use Case 4.5. In order to ensure the best possible soil data collection, the gaiasense soil sensors installed in plots in the Liopetri area of Cyprus were replaced with newer ones. The uninstallation of the old and the installation of the new soil sensors was successfully carried out by staff of the Cyprus Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), a partner of the project, as due to the restrictions in place to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible for NEUROPUBLIC’s specialised crew to move in. The new potato harvest produced with the support of gaiasense’s smart farming services is expected in mid-January, weather permitting.
The interoperability of gaiasense at the 117th OGC Member Meeting The 117th OGC Member Meeting of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) will take place online between 7-16 December 2020, with its thematic sessions covering a wide range of topics related to geospatial technologies and data, as well as topics related to the Internet of Things (IoT). The thematic session “IoT in Agriculture” will take place on 7 December 2020 at 20.00 and 23.30 CET and will focus on the interface between geospatial technologies and the Internet of Things in agriculture, with an emphasis on interoperability issues. Nikos Kalatzis, Project Management Manager of NEUROPUBLIC is the invited speaker of this session and will present the smart farming system, focusing on interoperability issues of IoT devices such as sensors, gaiasense telemetric agro-meteorological stations and Earth Observation systems. You can find more information about the IoT in Agriculture theme on the Plan4All website and register at https://store.ogc.org About the Open Geospatial Consortium The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is an international body with more than 500 members – businesses, government agencies, research organisations and universities – working together to make geospatial information and services available according to FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Through the work of the OGC, open geospatial standards are produced that are copyright-free and publicly available. Being on the cutting edge of developments, OGC analyzes and anticipates new technology trends, and operates as a flexible, collaborative Research & Technology laboratory – the OGC Innovation Program – that builds and tests innovative prototype solutions on the tangents of its members.
Online demonstration of gaiasense services for potato cultivation On Wednesday 11 November, NEUROPUBLIC held an online informative event on the development and operation of gaiasense-based smart farming services for potato cultivation. The event was held in the framework of IoT4Potato, Use Case of the European project Internet of Food & Farm 2020. During the event, a presentation of gaiasense’s technological infrastructure and smart farming services, as well as the gaiasense-based smart farming services and technological tools developed by NEUROPUBLIC to support potato cultivation in Poland and Ukraine, with the collaboration of IoT4Potato partners, was given. Participants were also able to watch a live demonstration of the smart farming application developed under the project, which allows for real-time visualization of field data and its use by scientific models for irrigation and crop protection. In the last part of the meeting, the participants, including representatives of companies from Poland, Ukraine and the Netherlands, had the opportunity to discuss the results of the implementation of the services on parcels in Poland and Ukraine so far, and to explore the possibility of extending the cooperation after the end of the project.
Smart farming at the heart of the 7th Panhellenic Congress for the Development of Greek Agriculture The 7th Panhellenic Congress for the Development of Greek Agriculture was held on Friday, November 6, 2020, for the first time online, with the participation of more than 1,000 delegates. Smart farming was at the heart of the Congress, through the 1st Thematic Session entitled “Smart Agriculture – Smart Advisory : the digital catalyst for a more sustainable and competitive agriculture”. Fotis Hadjipapadopoulos, President of NEUROPUBLIC and head of gaiasense, was one of the guest speakers of this session and referred to the concept of smart farming and presented gaiasense and its various aspects, focusing on the innovation of providing Smart Farming as a Service and how gaiasense contributes to a more sustainable agriculture. Among other things, Mr. Hadjipapadopoulos referred to the new gaiasense application, which is expected to be available in the next period, and will allow its users to access a large number of services at low cost. The other speakers of the panel also referred to smart farming and its role in a more sustainable food production system, as well as to the need for digitalisation of agricultural production: Jens Elbaek, Director of Crop Innovation, Danish Centre for Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation (SEGES) Yannis Maniatis, Professor, University of Piraeus, former Minister of Environment, Energy & Climate Change Manos Strakas, Director, Novaplan Agricultural Consultancy Company and Board Member of Agro Innovation Yiannis Haniotakis, Senior Director of Rural Sector Operations Development, Piraeus Bank – Board Member of GAIA EPICHEIREIN George Georgantas, Deputy Minister of Digital Governance