Digitalization can also optimize agriculture and forestry. New IT technologies aid in achieving more efficient farmland and forest management, more precise pest control and better monitoring of plant growth. The requisite data is provided by satellites in space, drones that fly over fields, pastures and woodlands or by sensors attached to the agricultural vehicles of the future, these being small electrically driven vehicles that work cultivation areas autonomously and in swarms. But that’s still some way off; digitalization must first fulfil its promise of modern, sustainable agriculture.
To advance agriculture 4.0, Fraunhofer joined the Portuguese research funding agency Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) in signing a letter of intent. It provides for a collaboration in “precision agriculture” between Europe’s largest applied research organization and Portuguese research facilities, using digital technologies and communication interfaces for advanced process technology to optimize the use of agricultural and forest areas. Both partners have agreed to develop and test new technological approaches for improving the cultivation of wine, vegetables and grain. The scientists plan to use satellites, sensors, smartphones, tablets and apps to collect, prepare and analyze agricultural data, improve irrigation systems, set up sustainable circulation systems for nutrients and test new solutions for energy-efficient agriculture and forestry. One of the first steps will be for a joint task force to develop potential application areas and scenarios. Among others Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS will be part of this task force.
Since 2008, Fraunhofer has maintained the Fraunhofer Center for Assistive information and Communication Solutions AICOS in Porto under the umbrella of the Associação Fraunhofer Portugal Research and in conjunction with the University of Porto. The scientists there are developing concepts and solutions for the information technology of tomorrow, creating, for example, new intuitive mobile devices and simplifying the interfaces between mobile phones and the Internet. AICOS is slated to play an important role in the new precision agriculture project, contributing its IT expertise. For instance, the researchers plan to develop software tools to collect and analyze agriculture and forestry data and display it on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
