Interdisciplinary workshop in AGRO on precision farming

Danish and international farming is increasingly using technology and digital solutions in their production to a greater and greater extent, and at the same time the authorities see great opportunities in gaining access to these data. Therefore, it is not just a question of developing algorithms that optimise production or reduce the environmental and climatic footprint but also a question of data management and storage so that others can access these data. These interesting topics were the focal point at our first interdisciplinary workshop on 3 December last year at AU Viborg. Thirty-one good colleagues from seven different sections participated, and they had 14 presentations showing some of our exiting activities in AGRO within those topics. The workshop was divided into four themes: Sensors, Data Management, Algorithms and The Crazy Project.

There is no doubt that sensors, data management and the development of algorithms are linked if you want to work within this area regardless of whether you work primarily within this area, or it only constitutes a small part of the project. You measure something, organise your data and develop an algorithm. This was the theme throughout the presentations, and it was clear that we in AGRO should have more collaboration in parts of or all this area. We had presentations on soil, plants, climate and the environment but also presentations that showed which technologies – for instance which drones – we have access to in AGRO, how we should store our data, and how we can describe our data life cycle or data workflow. We also touched upon some of the challenges we face, and here it was primarily the lack of computing power and storage of data that was in focus. There was no doubt that we are generating larger and larger amounts of data, which require server capacity to analyse data and not just local PCs.

In the ensuing discussion we agreed that in AGRO we have good opportunities to achieve a very strong synergy if we succeed in creating a better collaboration. For instance, this could be to characterise the soil before we begin measuring the effect on the crop of various input factors and at the same time measure the impact of and on the environment and climate. This can also be called Data Fusion, where we collect different data sources to gain a better understanding of the entire system. We also discussed how we can better combine Remote and Proximal Sensing, which originate from satellites/drones and robots, respectively. We also had a session called The Crazy Project, and here the purpose precisely was to think big thoughts without any restrictions. The combination of our work, which primarily takes place in projects, and the late time in the afternoon may have been an obstacle to our innovation. However, we agreed that we lack the large project in which the synergies with the various sensors and algorithms are given a free rein and are exploited. We would like to say ‘thank you’ for an exciting workshop, which only was exciting because the participants made it exciting with their great and good commitment.

The next interdisciplinary workshop is about soil health and will take place on 25 February at AU Viborg.