Smart Farming Technology Group - Agricultural University of Athens

📌 The #PoliRuralPlusProject has launched the Open Calls! We invite you to submit innovative proposals that enhance rural-urban interactions across the #EuropeanUnion with funding of up to 5,000 EUR. ℹ️ Submission deadline: 31 July 2024, 17:00 CEST ➡️ Learn more about the challenges and opportunities within our 9 pilot regions: https://lnkd.in/dwPs34RS ➡️ Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/dqyVNrpe #PoliRuralPlus #EUProject #SFTGroup #AUA

🛰 This week, I had the honor of presenting our research titled "Estimating Pomegranate Fruit Cracking Through Proximal and Aerial Remote Sensing" at AgEng2024, held at the Agricultural University of Athens, as part of the CrackSense Horizon EU project. 🌱 This study addresses significant yield loss due to fruit cracking in pomegranates by using innovative remote sensing techniques. By analyzing the correlation between vegetation indices and fruit cracking under different irrigation treatments, we aim to enhance crop management practices. We are excited about the potential impact of our findings on agricultural practices and look forward to further advancements in this field. #AgEng2024 #remotesensing #drones #agriculture #innovation Helenos Konstantinos Grivakis | Evangelos Anastasiou | Spyros Fountas | Avi Sadka | Victor Alchanatis | Manuela Zude-Sasse | Christian Regen | Nicolas Tapia Zapata | Idit Ginzberg | meytal laor

Our colleague Sarah Yates attended the 5th Project Meeting for our QuantiFarm Project in Lisbon, where consortium members gathered to share updates and progress. Sarah and Tomas Fiege Vos de Wael are leading the Governance Mechanism of the Assessment Framework, which is led by Polimi (Osservatori Digital Innovation, Filippo Renga, Chiara Corbo, Sandra Cesari de Maria, Andrea Bianchi and Francesco Parigi). Smart Farming Technology Group - Agricultural University of Athens with George Papadopoulos play an integral role in this work package, focusing on the design of the cost and benefit calculators. The last decade has seen a surge in interest and investment in digital technologies for agriculture and food production, commonly known as "precision agriculture," "smart farming," and "digital agriculture." However, despite the many predicted benefits of Digital Agricultural Technologies and Solutions (DATSs) in agriculture, their actual uptake by EU farmers has been slow due to various challenges, including lack of knowledge, insufficient data on costs and benefits, and social factors like cultural attitudes. The QuantiFarm project aims to address these challenges by providing independent quantitative and qualitative assessments of DATSs. The project involves 30 QuantiFarm Test Cases including different types of farms across 20 countries in 10 biogeographical regions, using DATSs under various conditions and business models. Our goal is to make these assessments replicable, comparable, and practically useful for farmers, advisors, and policymakers. This is crucial for facilitating the uptake of DATSs and designing effective policy measures. Are you interested in learning more about this topic, please connect with our colleague Sarah! We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration! #SmartFarming #DigitalAgriculture #PetersonProjectsAndSolutions #FarmingForFuture #QuantiFarm #Sustainability #AgricultureInnovation

🌟 The #SFTGroup of the Agricultural University of Athens AUA OFC, as the coordinator of the ICAERUS EU project, joined the 4th Project Management Board meeting in Milton Keynes, UK!  Over the two days, we explored the HE The ENCASE project and ELSA: Euclid Legacy Science Advanced analysis tools, provided updates on activities and progress within the consortium and focused on the 5 ICAERUS Use Cases. We had the privilege of having #ICAERUS advisory board members Dr. Thanos Balafoutis and Yiannis Ampatzidis with us, contributing valuable insights and expertise. A big thank you to the consortium partners and invited speakers for their contributions. Special thanks to The Open University Business School for hosting a very successful meeting and to the exceptional organizers: Giacomo Carli, Kristi Reid, Despoina Filiou, Jie Deng, Maria Fernandez, and Hannah Rickard. Agricultural University of Athens AUA OFC | Wageningen University & Research | Foodscale Hub | Noosware BV | GEOSENSE | LAMÁQUINA  Noumena | Institut de l'Elevage (idele) | Art21 | Ecological Interaction | ΕΣΥΦ Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος Φυτοπροστασίας - HCPA Hellenic Crop Protection Association | AgriFood Lithuania | AgFutura Technologies | The Open University

📢 On June 18, 2024, the FUTURAL Project's annual consortium meeting took place in Pisa, Italy. Coordinated by Prof. Spyros Fountas and Ari Lomis, with the participation of Evi Letsa and Sofia Stringa, the meeting aimed to share insights, discuss progress, and plan future activities to foster more resilient rural communities. The following day, June 19, focused on the progress of the Multi Actor Pilots (MAPs) and the development of 8 Smart Solutions (SS) for rural areas. Agricultural University of Athens AUA OFC | Università di Pisa | ICCS - NTUA | AEIDL (European Association for Innovation in Local Development) | University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest | Foodscale Hub | TECNALIA Research & Innovation | alchemia-nova | Art21 | IHE Delft Institute for Water Education | German Aerospace Center (DLR) | The Lisbon Council Regionalverband Pongau | Birda Municipality | KYTHERIAN FOUNDATION OF CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT | Urkiola Landa Garapenerako Alkartea - Asociación De Desarrollo Rural De Durangaldea (Durangaldea) | Jonava | Provincie West-Vlaanderen| Aquatim | European Rural Community Alliance - ERCA #FUTURALProject #SFTG #SmartFarmingTechnologyGroup

✔️𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝! During these two days, all 32 project partners had the opportunity to.. 🔹Exchange feedback on the project's activities 🔹Share results, insights & updates 🔹Participate in interactive exercises 🔹Plan the project's future steps! 🎯 Thank you all for your valuable contribution! Don't forget to follow us on social media for more updates! 🚀 #DigitalAgriculture #SmartFarming #DigitalFarming #HorizonEurope #ResearchImpacteuEU GAIA ΕΠΙΧΕΙΡΕΙΝ | Agricultural University of Athens AUA OFC | AGRIDEA - La centrale de vulgarisation agricole | Agromais | AgroSmart SIA | ANAMOB | AnySolution | Augmenta | ART21 | BENCO Baltic Engineering Company | CEMA | KGZS - Kmetijsko gozdarski zavod Maribor | Confagricoltura | CONSULAI | COPA COGECA | Delphy | Farm Frites Poland SA| Filagro Group | Foodscale Hub | Horta S.r.l. | Institut de l'Elevage (idele) | ITACyL (Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León) | KU Leuven | Natural Resources Institute Finland / Luonnonvarakeskus | NEUROPUBLIC S.A.| OKYS | Peterson Projects and Solutions (Europe) | Politecnico di Milano | Teagasc | Terra Consulting  | TNO |

👉 On June 13th, we participated in the ROSETTA Project EU consortium meeting held at #Teagasc in Dublin. The #ROSETTAproject aims to reduce and prevent food waste by improving market access for suboptimal foods, which do not meet marketing standards but are still safe to eat. As WP leaders for analyzing the business potential of suboptimal foods and task leaders for co-defining food waste reduction solutions, Konstantina Kakkavou from our team presented project updates and plans for our next steps. Q-PLAN INTERNATIONAL | Teagasc | Copenhagen Business School | Agricultural University of Athens AUA OFC | White Research | PEDAL Consulting | Technical University of Crete | Universität Wien | University of Vienna | DRAXIS Environmental S.A. | FruitVegetablesEUROPE (EUCOFEL) | Food & Bio Cluster Denmark | UNIMOS Alliance | Χαλκιαδάκης Α.Ε. | MOCHNIK JERZY MICHAL | Freshis | SAFE - Safe Food Advocacy Europe | Naturmælk #SFTG #SFTGroup #AUA #FoodWasteReduction #Sustainability #HorizonEurope

📢 We are happy to announce that Prof. Dr. Spyros Fountas from #SFTGroup will be joining the 'Tools & Trends' session as a panelist at the #YPNSatelliteEvent at AgEng2024 in Athens, Greece, on 1st July. Learn more about #AgEng2024 here: https://lnkd.in/dYc8jCxC

📢 We’re excited to announce the successful conclusion of our Kick-off Meeting and the official start of the Horizon Europe project, VALERECO! Held on June 17-18, 2024, at the Athens Plaza Hotel and organized by the Agricultural University of Athens AUA OFC, this event marks the beginning of a major initiative to promote legume-based cropping systems across Europe. 🌱 Our team is leading the development of the Digital Legume Information Hub (DLIH). This innovative platform will gather essential data and feature a Decision Support System (DSS) to help farmers make eco-friendly decisions. 🤝 Funded by Horizon Europe, VALERECO unites 15 partners from 11 countries. Together, we aim to highlight and enhance the environmental and economic benefits of legume crops, moving towards sustainable and resilient farming systems. #SFTG #AUA #VALERECO

#PoliRuralPlus builds on PoliRural’s success, enhancing rural-urban connectivity using advanced digital tools like #AI, #GIS, #IoT, and #DataAnalytics. It features 9 pilot projects testing an EU-wide approach to integrated territorial planning and foresight, expanding to urban areas for a comprehensive development perspective. The Greek pilot addresses key challenges and opportunities in Central Greece’s agricultural sector, promoting agritech and agritourism. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/dQRWgQd8 #SFTGroup #SmartFarmingTechnologyGroup #AUA