Agrotechnology, dubbed ‘Agri-Tech,’ has quickly grown in popularity across French farms, as it improves efficiency, yield, and profitability. Hundreds of start-ups in France are perfecting agriculture and developing algorithms, software, satellites, drones, artificial intelligence, and robots.
Stéphane Marcel, CEO of InVivo Digital Factory, said:
Today, we have almost autonomous tractors, which hardly need drivers anymore.
As agricultural technology improves, farmers are finding it to be a fundamental part of their daily lives because it provides significant benefits to their crops.
Paris-based association, La Ferme Digitale, includes 45 projects which are establishing digital technology on farms. Its objectives involve making organic fertilizers, setting up marketplaces, developing decision-support software, and the crowdfunding site for agriculture and food, known as Miimosa.
On April 23, an alliance of associations from the EU agri-food chain signed a joint ‘EU Code of Conduct’ on the sharing of agricultural information. Around 250 start-ups in France are steering their focus on the agricultural technology sector.
Meanwhile, the InVivo group is also developing a more expansive range of Agri-tech products and services, including the Smag software that covers 10M hectares of agricultural territory in France. The software provides farmers with cross-reference data on their smartphone about:
- The weather
- Ideal spraying dates
- Seeds
- Fertilization plans
- Addition of nitrogen
- Regulatory compliance
Marcel explained:
In France, it is often complicated regulatory constraints that drive the use of software, whereas elsewhere, technologies are developed to optimize productivity.
This new trend of ‘Agri-Tech’ is coming out with more specific innovations, especially when it comes to precision farming. Some of these include mapping, monitoring land, and plant data so that inputs can be adapted to suit local needs. Using this method allows for adjustments and reductions of pesticide application. Therefore, precision farming is seen as a solution to pesticides.
MIT engineers have also developed sensors made of carbon nanotubes that can be embedded in plant leaves. These sensors send a signal to the farmer’s smartphone when the plant is stressed, injured, infected, or damaged from sunlight.
