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Fusce pharetra odio eget

Using of the power of nature in food production. Ecological principles lead us to mixed cropping systems: narrow strips of different crops helping natural enemies to find a good biotope. Controlled traffic farming prevent soil compaction and improve moisture availability. New technologies are needed to support this transition. Together with 10 business partners we are looking for working solutions in 8 (sub) work packages.

The work packages are:

  1. Transition pathways: What scenarios hoe zit de landbouw eruit in 2040? Welke scenario’s zijn denkbaar? En welke eerste stappen moeten gezet worden?
  2. Integration of sensors, decision support and actuation specific operations in the field: A: Automated detection and control of pests and diseases in crops. B: Disease detection in seed potatoes. C: Detection and control of potato volunteer plants and other weeds. D: detection of plant species and classification systems of vegetations in field margins. E: detection and management of fauna to be protected in crops. F: R&D on other crop management activities
  3. Design and test of small scale infrastructure at farm level for IT and power supply

AGROS weed control

The use of crop protection products is under pressure. It is an important part of the EU’s Farm2Fork strategy, but in the Netherlands, too, efforts to reduce use have been underway for a long time. In the meantime, many agents are on the “Candidates for Substitution” list, agents that should no longer be used in [ … ]

First meeting AGROS – Exchange between the three sectors

On May 31, 2022 representatives of the 3 sectors were invited to share experiences within AGROS. Some 20 participants listened to the visions that are the basis for the activities per sector. Renske Landeweert (IMEC-One Planet) kicked off with their vision on the developments in data use. IMEC-One Planet works at the forefront of chip [ … ]

Successful Future Farming & Food Experience day

On May 31st WUR Field Crops together with Farm of the future and NPPL (National Project for Precision Farming) organized the Future Farming & Food Experience event. A total of 500 visitors including arable farmers, students of agricultural education, companies and policy makers. The full-day program offered a wide variety of activities. Boerderij van de [ … ]

Smart Disease detection in Seed potatoes

In collaboration with AgroIntelli, Kubota and BO-Akkerbouw we are working on early detection of diseased plants with vision technology and deep learning. The diseases we are focusing on are virus infections and Erwinia, a bacterial disease. The goal of the project is to develop a prototype disease detection device consisting of a camera system and [ … ]

Thinking ahead: the future of smart mixed cropping systems

What can the future of arable farming and smart mixed cropping systems look like? Scenario planning is a good way to think about this question and explore potential futures. We applied the scenario method in AGROS’ arable use case. On 25 November 2021, we organised an interactive scenario workshop with farmers, farmer representatives, researchers, policy [ … ]

The AGROS program

The AGROS programme is a collaboration between Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and 29 private partners, with funding provided by two of the Top Sectors programmes: Agri & Food and Horticulture & Starting Materials. AGROS stands for ‘Evolution to sustainable AGRicultural Operation Systems’. The main goal is to develop tools that can support production that is based on natural, biological and ecological processes and thereby steer production towards sustainable use of inputs like energy, water, plant protection, products and labour. The knowledge obtained from the research and experiments, and the professional guidance provided will benefit the participating arable and dairy farmers, greenhouse growers and technology companies. Over the next four years, the business community and the government will invest more than €6.5 million in this programme.