Data-driven innovation in support of a small frozen fruit value-chain – Greece
Ploutos’ Sustainable Innovation Pilot 1 (SIP1) aims at helping fruit producers in Greece to reduce production costs and increase their revenues, at an environmental friendly way.
Throughout the implementation of innovative solutions, in the framework of SIP1, three important achievements were made.
First, two (2) IoT weather stations were installed in PROODOS’ fields, covering two different climate/soil zones. Second, a Smart Farming (SF) solution, gaiasense, was launched to allow farmers to use inputs (irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides) in an optimal way. Third, a traceability app was launched to allow authorized users to access information on the history of the products.
Outcomes: The development and launch of the SF web-app and the traceability solution was an important achievement that helped to ensure the monitoring of data, as well as the provision of smart farming services.
Practical Recommendations: From the implementation of the innovative solutions, a conclusion was drawn; the need to educate and familiarize farmers with the new technology. In addition, the importance of raising awareness on the new business models that enhance the sustainability of the sector was highlighted.
Problems: Overall, one significant problem was the difficulty in communicating clearly with the farmers, due to the differences in perceptions and views on farm operation processes.
Outlook: As regards the future implementation of this solution, it’s important to ensure the active engagement of the farmers. Moreover, due to different environmental conditions and climate variety, data collection should have a 2 to 3-year time span in order to allow conclusions to be drawn.
Watch this video on our YouTube channel to learn about the challenges faced, specifically in peach orchards in Greece and how smart farming and the gaiasense system can be used to tackle those challenges.
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