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[前沿资讯 ] 2024 THRIVE Global Impact Summit Offers Platform to Delve Into Innovative Solutions 进入全文
SVG Ventures | THRIVE；Global Ag Tech Initiative；
Amidst the heightened urgency of the climate crisis, it is becoming increasingly clear that disruptive innovation holds the key to forging a future that’s sustainable, prosperous, inclusive, healthy, and equitable for all. Mark your calendars for November 6th and 7th for the 2024 THRIVE Global Impact Summit at the Marriott in Santa Clara, CA. We’ll gather in the vibrant hub of Silicon Valley for this ground-breaking event alongside forward-thinking visionaries, entrepreneurs, investors, and influential leaders from the realms of agriculture and food technology. The THRIVE Global Impact Summit provides the platform to delve into innovative solutions and ignite transformative shifts within these sectors. Join us in shaping a sustainable future and embracing consequential innovation. November 6: Pre-summit Networking Reception, 6:00pm – 8:00pm (Orchard Bar, Marriott Santa Clara) November 7: Global Impact Summit, 9:00am – 7:30pm (Marriott Santa Clara)
[前沿资讯 ] EOSDA Crop Monitoring Enables Seamless Integration with John Deere Data 进入全文
EOS Data Analytics；Global Ag Tech Initiative；
EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA), a global provider of AI-powered satellite imagery analytics, has announced the integration of John Deere data into its EOSDA Crop Monitoring platform. This new feature simplifies the process of managing fields and field operations data, allowing platform users to automatically synchronize information such as field boundaries, fertilizer application, seeding, spraying, and harvesting directly from their John Deere Operations Center. For many farmers and agronomists, the manual process of transferring data between their John Deere equipment and digital platforms is both time-consuming and prone to errors. EOS Data Analytics has addressed this issue with a new feature that automates data transfer and allows the users of EOSDA Crop Monitoring, an online satellite-based precision agriculture platform for field monitoring, to visualize and store the data collected by John Deere machinery by operation type. This is particularly valuable for those who rely on accurate data for analyzing past seasons and planning future field activities. “With the support of John Deere machinery data, we’re making it easier for our users to manage their fields and field operations. This feature ensures that EOSDA Crop Monitoring users have access to reliable and timely information that is critical for optimizing their agricultural practices,” comments Maksym Arslanov, product manager at EOS Data Analytics. The data integration process is straightforward: the user only needs to connect their John Deere account to the EOSDA Crop Monitoring platform and select the fields of interest. Then, field boundaries and machinery data will be automatically synchronized and imported into the platform’s Data Manager. With it, the user gets the ability to manage field data across seasons, update field boundaries, and create detailed VRA maps using synchronized data. The new feature offers significant benefits across different sectors. Farmers gain accurate insights into field operations to ensure compliance with technical norms and optimize input use. Input suppliers can conduct internal and external tests with precise data from machinery, which will come in handy in the development and refinement of technical standards. Insurance companies get access to reliable data for assessing compliance with operational standards before insuring crops. Finally, consultants can utilize accurate data from field operations to provide informed recommendations to farmers. Unlike other platforms that may require additional subscriptions or complex workflows, EOS Data Analytics offers this feature as part of EOSDA Crop Monitoring, which makes it more accessible and user-friendly. Additionally, users can update field boundaries and data continuously without overwriting existing information.
[前沿资讯 ] xFarm Technologies Raises €36 Million to Help Digitalize Agri-Food Sector 进入全文
xFarm Technologies；Global Ag Tech Initiative；
2024 marks a year of major growth for xFarm Technologies, the tech company that supports the work of more than 450,000 farms across more than 100 supply chains, covering 7 million hectares worldwide, through its Farm Management Information System (FMIS), the xFarm digital platform. After integrating Greenfield Technologies, a Spanish company focused on regenerative agriculture, and SpaceSense, a French brand that specializes in geospatial artificial intelligence, in April, an operation that cemented its position as a European leader in the digitalization of the agri-food sector, xFarm Technologies has announced the closing of a €36 million Series C funding round. The new round, which follows the €17 million Series B round in 2022 and the first €3 million round in 2019, was led by global technology investment firm Partech, through its Impact Growth Fund, which aims to scale European impact-native technology leaders seeking to solve environmental and social challenges. The round also saw the participation of Mouro Capital, a London-based venture capital firm targeting growth-stage fintech investment opportunities across Europe, North America, and Latin America. Swisscom Ventures, United Ventures, and all previous institutional investors also participated in the round, demonstrating their confidence in xFarm Technologies based on its significant achievements over the past two years. The company is already well established in Europe, in particular in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland and the UK. The capital raised in this Series C round will enable it to consolidate its leadership in Europe and accelerate its expansion throughout the rest of the continent, as well as in LATAM, India, Turkey, and the US, where it has already started to strengthen its presence through new hiring and strategic partnerships. xFarm Technologies also intends to improve its performance, develop its services further, and tailor them to the needs of specific markets and customers. Sustainability remains a priority for the tech company, which aims to support its partners and customers in implementing regenerative agriculture practices at scale, providing them with even more advanced solutions and technologies, using increasingly innovative tools, such as geospatial artificial intelligence. The participation of Mouro Capital in this investment round will be important for the creation of the new Fintech and Insurtech division of xFarm Technologies, which is determined to further develop its services in the fields of risk management and lending. This will enable xFarm Technologies to offer even more support on the insurance and financial management side. “This is a time of profound change and major challenges for the global agri-food industry. At xFarm Technologies, we want to continue to provide the most advanced and effective tools to navigate this landscape, with further investment in R&D and innovation, cutting-edge technologies in climate intelligence and AI for agronomic support, and a focus on sustainability and regenerative agriculture,” says Matteo Vanotti, CEO of xFarm Technologies. “We are excited to announce this funding round and are proud to have world-class partners like Partech, Mouro Capital and all the other investors who have placed their trust in us. With their support, we will continue to innovate, driving digitalization from a supply chain perspective and helping farmers to manage their farms even more effectively and sustainably.” “We are truly delighted to partner with one of the leading AgTech companies in the world,” said Rémi Said and Arnaud Minvielle, General Partners at Partech. “We believe that xFarm Technologies, with its best-in-class technological horizontal solution, its innovative route to market, its deep understanding of the farmers’ needs and its global footprint, has all the elements to become the global leader in farm management software and a critical player in the agricultural value chain transition. We are very proud and honored to embark on this journey with xFarm Technologies and its very talented team.” “As traditional fintech investors, we feel that xFarm Technologies’ vision to digitalize the agricultural sector concurs with their product being a great entry point to serve their clients’ financial needs,” remarks Manuel Silva Martínez, General Partner at Mouro Capital. “We are excited to support Matteo and the team in expanding their vision into our core area of expertise.”
[前沿资讯 ] Study: Farmers Are Open to Innovation to Cope With Climate Change 进入全文
Future Farming；Global Ag Tech Initiative；
Higher yield potential is driving adoption of digital farming, with two thirds of the famers using digital tools already and the same amount wanting to learn more about AI, according to Future Farming. This is one of the key findings from the 2024 Farmer Voice survey, a study among 2,000 farmers across Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Kenya, Ukraine, and the United States, conducted by global market research firm Kynetec on behalf of Bayer. 75 percent of farmers are already impacted by climate change or worried about its impacts, and 71 percent of them report reduced yields as a major concern. 6 out of 10 have already experienced significant revenue loss due to weather events out of the norm recently. As part of the solution, farmers count on innovation: 75 percent are open to implementing new technologies to better cope with climate change. Desire for better yields, resilient farms, and protected livelihoods are driving interest and adoption of more regenerative and technological approaches to farming. Farmers’ most prevalent current challenges are driven by volatility and uncertainty. With regard to the next 3 years, more than a third reported weather volatility or extreme weather events (37%) and price/income volatility (36%) among their top-3 challenges. While these remained stable compared to 2023 findings, this year’s survey revealed a notable increase of political or regulatory decisions as a key concern, with 29 percent of farmers citing that as a top-3 challenge, double the amount compared to last year. Continue reading at Future Farming. Continue reading at Future Farming.
[前沿资讯 ] Dynamic environmental control for more efficient vertical farming 进入全文
瓦赫宁根大学；
垂直农业是指在建筑物内垂直堆叠种植植物的做法。这使得在消费者附近种植蔬菜成为可能，比如在超市旁边。由于垂直农场的条件是完全可控的，作物也可以在极端环境中生长，比如沙漠或寒冷、黑暗的地区。然而，在垂直农业大规模实施之前，需要解决几个挑战，如高能耗。瓦赫宁根大学研究所的研究表明，更智能地使用人造光可以节省大量资金。植物的健康状况也有所改善。 在垂直农场中，生长条件的每一个细节都可以被控制。这对高产、优质和高效利用水分和植物营养等资源具有重要意义。为农作物创造最佳生长条件需要大量的能源消耗。此外，恒定的环境条件也是许多垂直种植系统的一个特点。例如，植物生长所需的灯每天提供相同数量的光，恒温器总是保持在相同的设置。研究人员得出结论，这通常是不必要的。瓦赫宁根大学及研究中心的Leo Marcelis说：“采用更动态的方法可以显著降低能源成本，同时职务生长保持不变，甚至得到改善。” 可变“照明计划” 根据研究人员的说法，光照起着关键作用：植物需要光进行光合作用，而不同的光波长，也就是我们所感知的颜色，以不同的方式影响植物的生长。Marcelis说：“因为植物并不总是需要相同的光来实现最佳发育，所以动态环境控制可以更好地满足植物在不同时间的特定需求。这会导致更好的植物生长和质量”。它还可以通过在电价较低时使用更多电力来智能地应对能源价格的波动，从而节省成本。动态环境控制提高了垂直农业的效率，增加了这种种植方法在未来成为温室农业可行替代方案的可能性。 开发模型 研究人员利用植物生理学知识，结合新的传感器和建模技术开发了一个模型。此外，还使用了专门为垂直农业种植的植物品种。该计算机模型旨在保持植物光合作用全天恒定，同时最大限度地降低电力成本。研究表明，仅仅通过在一天内改变光强度，就有可能将成本降低12%。 研究人员还研究了可变光强度对菠菜等叶菜类蔬菜生长的影响，这些蔬菜通常在垂直种植系统中种植。他们发现，即使将植物暴露在不规则变化的光强而不是固定模式下，也没有负面影响。 温室园艺的机遇 在传统温室中，光强度和温度等生长因素也可以动态控制，因为太阳能和风能等可持续能源的使用越来越多。这些能源的不稳定供应导致电力供应和价格的大幅波动。温室和垂直栽培系统都可以通过应对这些波动而受益。 培育新品种 专门为垂直种植系统开发的新品种可以帮助垂直农业更有利可图。这些品种可以根据受控环境中的条件进行专门定制。此外，与现有的品种相比，这提供了更多的机会，专注于风味和营养价值的改善，而不是迄今为止经常关注的硬度和保质期。 研究人员表示，在垂直农业能够完全促进粮食生产之前，还必须解决其他关键障碍。例如，许多提出的解决方案尚未经过广泛测试。此外，使用垂直种植系统的农民需要良好的传感器和模型来优化控制环境因素。Marcelis总结道：“如果我们动态控制垂直农场的环境因素，我们可以降低能耗和成本。反过来，这将提高这些农场的盈利能力和可持续性”。
[前沿资讯 ] Road networks stretch into Congo Basin forests: Satellites and AI help to monitor 进入全文
瓦赫宁根大学；
The Congo Basin rainforest is the second-largest tropical forest in the world, storing large volumes of carbon and hosting high levels of biodiversity. While these forests have historically stayed mostly intact, road development has recently become a critical threat. A new study has used satellite images and artificial intelligence to map Congo Basin forest roads in unprecedented detail. This provides crucial new information for forest conservation and management. Most of the road networks in the Congo Basin are built to facilitate industrial selective logging: the harvesting of mature and valuable timber while leaving the majority of forest intact. This can be a relatively sustainable practice that significantly benefits the regional economies. But the opening of temporary roads to facilitate forest access also leads to large carbon emissions and has long-lasting impacts on forest ecosystems. Another negative side-effect is that roads open up remote forest regions, which may lead to illegal hunting, mining and agricultural development. Advanced detection method making every road visible Timely and transparent information on where and when road networks are being built is of critical importance for sustainable logging practices and forest and biodiversity conservation. Current forest road maps are seriously incomplete or outdated, because they rely on labour-intensive manual digitisation of satellite images. Researchers have now developed an automated method to detect forest roads from satellite images. Their study was recently published in Remote Sensing of Environment. It demonstrates an advanced detection method based on deep learning techniques and a combination of high-resolution optical and radar satellite images. Bart Slagter, PhD researcher at Wageningen University & Research and lead author of the study: “The optical sensors provide detailed imagery during clear weather conditions, while the radar sensors can ‘see through’ clouds during persistent rainy seasons in the tropics. In this way, even the most narrow and transient road segments can be precisely located.” The algorithm processed and analysed hundreds of thousands of satellite images in a cloud-based processing platform Google Earth Engine. “We mapped almost 50,000 km of road development in the Congo Basin during the last five years,” Slagter explained. “This inventory will be continuously updated for the years to come. We are also aiming to apply these methods to the Amazon and Southeast Asian rainforests.” The Congo Basin forest road map reveals some striking trends. Countries in the western part of the region (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo) showed large amounts of road development in recent years, a result from the extensive logging activities permitted in these countries. Furthermore, almost a quarter of the Congo Basin forest roads opened up intact forests that had no signs of previous human influence. Towards logging with minimal environmental damage Elaborating further on the significance of this study, senior co-author Kurt Fesenmyer – a forest spatial data scientist with The Nature Conservancy – explained: “The integration of this satellite monitoring system into forest management practices provides a crucial step forward in balancing profitable logging operations with minimal environmental damage. This may include promoting Reduced Impact Logging for Climate (RILC) practices such as improved road design, preventing the expansion of roads into protected areas, and ensuring that abandoned roads are properly closed to avoid further human influence in remote forests.” Furthermore, the continuously updated road maps are of critical importance to formulate forest conservation strategies at a large scale, as roads are strong indicators of human influence on natural systems. The detailed and up-to-date road maps can substantially improve popular conservation metrics like ‘human footprints’ or ‘intact forest landscapes’, and enable governments and NGOs to better protect critical areas from deforestation and forest degradation.
