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project - Research and innovation

IoF2020 - Internet of Food and Farm 2020
Internet of Food and Farm 2020

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Ongoing | 2016 - 2020 Netherlands
Ongoing | 2016 - 2020 Netherlands
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Context

IoF2020 is initiated by the core partners of this project and its successor FIspace. The farming and food sector proved to be very fruitful in FIWARE for introducing Future Internet applications. In particular, 3 agri‐food FIWARE accelerator programs, i.e. SmartAgriFood2, FInish and Fractals, demonstrated the eagerness of the sector to use opportunities provided by new technology to address their challenges. Agri‐food has now become one of the strategic areas for further development of FIWARE. The IoF2020 consortium is eager to build on this success using its large established network and expertise within the food and farming sector as well as the ICT sector. IoT is a powerful driver that will transform the entire farming and food domain into smart webs of connected objects that are context‐sensitive and can be identified, sensed and controlled remotely. As such, IoT can be a real game changer in agriculture improving productivity and sustainability. Many technologies are already available, although there are special IoT challenges. For instance, agri‐food ‘things’ are often living objects, and attached devices have to work in harsh environments, while network connectivity in rural areas can be challenging. In fact, a large‐scale take‐up of IoT in agriculture is in particular prevented by a lack of interoperability, user concerns among others about data ownership, privacy and security, and by appropriate business models that are also suitable for (very) small companies. Consequently, IoT applications in farming and food are mainly used by a small group of early adopters, despite the great interest of IoT technology providers and investors. IoF2020 addresses the organizational and technological challenges to overcome this situation.

Objectives

To foster a large‐scale take‐up of IoT in the European farming and food domain, contributing to a next huge innovation boost and consequently to a drastically improved productivity and sustainability. 1) To demonstrate the business case of IoT for a large number of application areas in farming and food. 2) To integrate and reuse availability IoT technologies by exploiting open architectures and standards. 3) To ensure user acceptability of IoT solutions in farming and food by addressing user needs, including security, privacy and trust. 4) To ensure the sustainability of IoT solutions beyond the project by validating the related business models and setting up an IoT ecosystem for large scale take-up.

Objectives

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Activities

The project involves trials in 5 agri-food areas (arable, dairy, vegetables, fruits, meat) and focuses on 19 use cases. The trials address coherent sets of challenges that are on the one hand important from an agri-food business perspective and on the oher hand are promising from a technical IoT perspective. Use cases focus on early adopters and ealry majority farmers and food companies, or both, and involve organic and conventional farming. The whole food chain is covered, from farming up to the consumer. The trials take place throughout Europe with partners from 18 countries. The trials and use cases will integrate technologies ranging from IoT devices and IoT connectivity to IoT intelligence.

Activities

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Additional information

The demand‐driven multi‐actor approach is deeply embedded in the project. A key factor in the selection and definition of use cases has been the commitment and active participation of users, including farmers, cooperatives, farm equipment suppliers, food processing companies, transporters, consumers, and other stakeholders. This form of ‘interactive innovation’ is reflected in the design of IoF2020 in which different actors will combine practical knowledge and scientific knowledge from different fields to generate innovative solutions that are most likely implemented in commercial situations thanks to cross‐fertilisation of ideas between actors, the co‐creation process and the generation of open, co‐owned results. The lean start‐up methodology ensures the focus on the benefits for end‐users.

Project details
Main funding source
Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Type of Horizon project
Multi-actor project
Location
Main geographical location
Veluwe

EUR 34 713 063.00

Total budget

Total contributions including EU funding.

Project keyword

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5 Practice Abstracts

With the vegetable sector amounting to around 10% of the total agricultural output value in the EU, vegetables represent one of the most important food categories in European supermarkets. Farmers face numerous challenges in their efforts to guarantee a continued supply. Most importantly disease and pest control, the competition with weeds and the preservation of soil fertility.

In order to support the long-term growth of the sector, the vegetable trial aims to demonstrate how the cultivation process can be automated, using an intelligent combination of sensors and data analysis. These IoT technologies will be tested under different conditions, ranging from fully-controlled indoor greenhouses to semi-controlled greenhouses and open-air, non-regulated vegetable cultivation.

Special attention will be given to organic farming, where weed control is a specific challenge. Reliable traceability throughout the supply chain and the simplification of certification systems is also included in the trial.
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With the vegetable sector amounting to around 10% of the total agricultural output value in the EU, vegetables represent one of the most important food categories in European supermarkets. Farmers face numerous challenges in their efforts to guarantee a continued supply. Most importantly disease and pest control, the competition with weeds and the preservation of soil fertility.

In order to support the long-term growth of the sector, the vegetable trial aims to demonstrate how the cultivation process can be automated, using an intelligent combination of sensors and data analysis. These IoT technologies will be tested under different conditions, ranging from fully-controlled indoor greenhouses to semi-controlled greenhouses and open-air, non-regulated vegetable cultivation.

Special attention will be given to organic farming, where weed control is a specific challenge. Reliable traceability throughout the supply chain and the simplification of certification systems is also included in the trial.
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Arable farming represents the largest agricultural sector in the EU in terms of acreage (60% in 2013) and number of primary production holdings. The sector has important ambitions, such as increasing production for food, feed, bio-based products and energy with the same or less input. At the same time, the sector faces several challenges. Stopping loss of soil fertility, prevent the pollution of groundwater and tackle disease/weed resistance for example. Against this background, a more sustainable food value chain is a necessity.
IoT technology enables precision farming. In the use cases we link existing sensor networks, earth observations systems, crop growth models and yield gap analysis tools to a variety of databases. This combination of information creates effective, standardized actuation protocols (‘task maps’) for machines and robots. Focusing on the cultivation of three main crops (wheat, soybeans and potatoes), in different European regions and climate zones, the trial includes activities along the cropping cycle. With the help of IoT technologies, data on key variables such as the soil, climate conditions, growth of plants and weed, disease or pest prevalence can be combined in a meaningful way.
The innovative farm management systems in the arable farming trial address urgent challenges, such as the efficient use of pesticides, fertilizers and energy. The smart combination of data also enhances transparency and food safety along the food chain.
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Arable farming represents the largest agricultural sector in the EU in terms of acreage (60% in 2013) and number of primary production holdings. The sector has important ambitions, such as increasing production for food, feed, bio-based products and energy with the same or less input. At the same time, the sector faces several challenges. Stopping loss of soil fertility, prevent the pollution of groundwater and tackle disease/weed resistance for example. Against this background, a more sustainable food value chain is a necessity.
IoT technology enables precision farming. In the use cases we link existing sensor networks, earth observations systems, crop growth models and yield gap analysis tools to a variety of databases. This combination of information creates effective, standardized actuation protocols (‘task maps’) for machines and robots. Focusing on the cultivation of three main crops (wheat, soybeans and potatoes), in different European regions and climate zones, the trial includes activities along the cropping cycle. With the help of IoT technologies, data on key variables such as the soil, climate conditions, growth of plants and weed, disease or pest prevalence can be combined in a meaningful way.
The innovative farm management systems in the arable farming trial address urgent challenges, such as the efficient use of pesticides, fertilizers and energy. The smart combination of data also enhances transparency and food safety along the food chain.
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This content is only available in native language at the moment
Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) is key to satisfy the increasing world-wide demand for good quality animal products in combination with responsible farming. To reduce environmental impact, diminish resource use and increase animal welfare while at the same time intensifying productivity is the imminent challenge faced by the dairy sector.

Since the abolition of milk quota in 2015, milk has been subject to heavy price fluctuations. In order to remain competitive on the world market, the European dairy sector needs to improve its production processes. The dairy trial addresses this challenge by combining real‐time sensor data gathered from neck collars with GPS, machine learning technologies and cloud-based services to create more value in the dairy chain.

Data on the feeding patterns of cows will provide input to detect health issues at an early stage, for example. Quality data to calibrate sensors remotely will improve milk quality monitoring. In the dairy trial, IoT technology helps to use resources more efficiently, ensure high quality milk, improve animal welfare and decrease environmental impact.

The use-cases will utilize the platform 365Farmnet to enable the seamless exchange of IoT data and services.
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This content is only available in native language at the moment
Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) is key to satisfy the increasing world-wide demand for good quality animal products in combination with responsible farming. To reduce environmental impact, diminish resource use and increase animal welfare while at the same time intensifying productivity is the imminent challenge faced by the dairy sector.

Since the abolition of milk quota in 2015, milk has been subject to heavy price fluctuations. In order to remain competitive on the world market, the European dairy sector needs to improve its production processes. The dairy trial addresses this challenge by combining real‐time sensor data gathered from neck collars with GPS, machine learning technologies and cloud-based services to create more value in the dairy chain.

Data on the feeding patterns of cows will provide input to detect health issues at an early stage, for example. Quality data to calibrate sensors remotely will improve milk quality monitoring. In the dairy trial, IoT technology helps to use resources more efficiently, ensure high quality milk, improve animal welfare and decrease environmental impact.

The use-cases will utilize the platform 365Farmnet to enable the seamless exchange of IoT data and services.
View detail page
This content is only available in native language at the moment
The cultivation of fruits represents a demanding task for farmers. Harvest time and selection is crucial for the quality of the product and the requirements in terms of resource-use, logistics and disease/pest control are high. Aiming to improve production processes, the fruit trial showcases the uptake of IoT technologies throughout the fruit supply chain: at the field, in logistics, in processing and at the point-of-sale.

Specifically focusing on the production of table grapes, wine and olives, the fruit trial will show how IoT technology can improve each step in the production process. Sensor data (e.g. weather stations, multispectral/thermal cameras, stem water potential, light micro-climate measures, fruitful indexes), cloud-based systems for monitoring and early warning systems to control pests/diseases (e.g. variable rate spraying, selective harvesting) can help to improve quality and increase yield.

Additionally, traceability devices (e.g. RFID, multidimensional barcodes, 3D labels) and smart packaging enable condition monitoring during storage, processing, transportation and on the shelves. The incorporation of IoT technologies in the fruit supply chain has the potential to reduce pre- and postharvest losses, lower input, improve quality, achieve higher distances and improve product traceability (including protected designation of origin).
View detail page
This content is only available in native language at the moment
The cultivation of fruits represents a demanding task for farmers. Harvest time and selection is crucial for the quality of the product and the requirements in terms of resource-use, logistics and disease/pest control are high. Aiming to improve production processes, the fruit trial showcases the uptake of IoT technologies throughout the fruit supply chain: at the field, in logistics, in processing and at the point-of-sale.

Specifically focusing on the production of table grapes, wine and olives, the fruit trial will show how IoT technology can improve each step in the production process. Sensor data (e.g. weather stations, multispectral/thermal cameras, stem water potential, light micro-climate measures, fruitful indexes), cloud-based systems for monitoring and early warning systems to control pests/diseases (e.g. variable rate spraying, selective harvesting) can help to improve quality and increase yield.

Additionally, traceability devices (e.g. RFID, multidimensional barcodes, 3D labels) and smart packaging enable condition monitoring during storage, processing, transportation and on the shelves. The incorporation of IoT technologies in the fruit supply chain has the potential to reduce pre- and postharvest losses, lower input, improve quality, achieve higher distances and improve product traceability (including protected designation of origin).
View detail page
This content is only available in native language at the moment
Animal output for meat production accounts for 24.8% of the total EU-28 agricultural output. The sector has been dealing with numerous challenges such as animal welfare, foreign competition, climate impact and antibiotic resistance.

The meat trial aims to demonstrate how technology can help face these challenges. Early warning systems increase animal health and reduce antibiotic use. Advanced monitoring systems provide farmers with feedback on their decisions and help to optimize animal growth and wellbeing. Tracking data adds transparency and traceability to the production process. In this way, the meat trial will explore the advantages of IoT technologies for farmers and for the production chain as a whole.
View detail page
This content is only available in native language at the moment
Animal output for meat production accounts for 24.8% of the total EU-28 agricultural output. The sector has been dealing with numerous challenges such as animal welfare, foreign competition, climate impact and antibiotic resistance.

The meat trial aims to demonstrate how technology can help face these challenges. Early warning systems increase animal health and reduce antibiotic use. Advanced monitoring systems provide farmers with feedback on their decisions and help to optimize animal growth and wellbeing. Tracking data adds transparency and traceability to the production process. In this way, the meat trial will explore the advantages of IoT technologies for farmers and for the production chain as a whole.
View detail page
This content is only available in native language at the moment
Currently showing page content in native language where available

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