ROMI stands for Robotics in Micro Farming

 Jonathan Minchin describes how technology is being developed to support sustainable farming practices: With a new era of farmers, learn about robots for micro-farming.

In countryside, peri-urban, and metropolitan regions across Europe, a young generation of farmers is creating tiny inventive market gardens.

On tiny surfaces of fewer than 5 hectares, these farms frequently cultivate polycultures of up to 100 distinct types every year.

Polyculture and organic microforms are proven to be very profitable, ecological, and cost-effective, making them valuable instruments for future agricultural growth.

ROMI is a four-year H2020 research project sponsored by the European Union that aims to promote ecologically, localized, and human-scale agriculture. It is creating a cost-effective, versatile platform made up of robotic equipment, data, software, and shareable documentation to assist agricultural communities in increasing productivity and improving working conditions. A land-based robot, aerial robotic equipment such as a suspended cable box for polytunnels, a drone for crop management, and a 3D scanner for quantitative traits in indoor and outdoor contexts are all being developed by ROMI.

In Europe, small organic farms are scalable enterprises.

A notable tendency in the growth of farms in European agricultural systems may be observed: on the one hand, a rising number of larger farms, and on the other hand, a growing number of micro-farms (less than 5 ha). To date, small farms account for the great majority of European farms, with 81.6 percent of EU-12 holdings having less than 5 ha of UAA, compared to 54.5 percent in EU-15. Micro-farms can be financially profitable: according to recent research released by AgroParisTech (France), 1000 m2 of the planted area can produce a crop worth 57,300 euros with 1600 hours of labor.

Micro-farms enable local people to be fed.

We can expect a rise in agricultural output as a result of technological advancement. Precision farming was valued at $2.8 billion in 2015, and it is predicted to expand at a rate of 12% each year. However, this innovation now helps only a small number of bigger farms, further isolating micro-farms that rely on conventional agricultural practices that require a lot of human labor, resulting in physically demanding working conditions. Tractors are not a feasible alternative in such tiny spaces because of incompatible technologies of scale, and they are not equipped to manage the intricacies of many crop varieties on the same field.

The goal is to make diversified cropping simpler and eliminate manual labor so that micro-farms may expand, diversify their operations, and remain viable. There is a pressing need to supply them with low-cost, easy-to-use tools and solutions.

Robotics facilitates the management of diversity.

The researchers behind ROMI think that computing and mechatronics have advanced to the point where they are capable of managing the intricate techniques of polyculture farming. In its third year of research, ROMI is adapting and expanding cutting-edge land-based and air-borne monitoring technologies, with the goal of releasing a lightweight, low-cost, and adaptable robotics platform that is modular, inexpensive, and simple to use.

Sony's land robot can both monitor and work on crops. These robots, when combined with aerial robotics, such as the cable box and drone devised by the Institute for Advanced Architecture (IAAC) and the Noumena team, form a forum capable of collecting a precise multi-scale picture of crop progress, from collective sample plants to an overall context of the cultivated landscape.

By integrating high-throughput data from the robot's cameras with computer models of plant growth, the research is exploring a novel technique for monitoring, interpreting, and predicting crop development.

Innovative 3D plant monitoring and modeling approaches for indoor and in-field data collecting are being developed as part of the project. To obtain physiologically relevant information for farmers, the ROMI team must also go far beyond the advances in outdoor phenotyping.

Phenotyping in the Field using Computer Vision and Active Vision

To that goal, the Adaptive Systems group at Berlin's Humboldt University is trying to apply to robots the concepts of the persistent, independent, open-ended educational process, artificial intelligence-driven by intrinsic desire and curiosity. These concepts will serve as the foundation for the live operation module, which will be able to align the camera and extract the most valuable information from the captured photos. Combining active vision with deep learning approaches for in-field profiling would be a milestone in how conventional modeling and deep learning techniques may be combined.

The MOSAIC group at Inria is at the forefront of formalized plant modeling and offers professional advice on reconstructing plant anatomy from raw data (images, point clouds). For so many years, Inria has collaborated with the CNRS's Reproduction and Development of Plants laboratory in Lyon. The geometric characteristics derived from in-field plant observations may provide fresh insights into the relationship between phenotypic and underlying ecological and evolutionary and genetic phenomena.

Rather than evaluating a limited handful of model plants in an extremely laboratory environment and then looking for ways to implement the observations of outdoor farming methods, this feature enables them to evaluate large data sets from farms and look for ways to connect observed phenomena noted by farmers to gain more insight from plant sciences.

The potential is enormous and expandable.

The use of the device and active vision for in-field profiling, notified by digital plant modeling, will not only benefit farms by offering advanced crop surveillance and prediction tools, however, the same data will also serve as the foundation for accurate numerical control (CNC) robot implementation at multiple scales. Farmers will be aided in repetitive yet highly skilled operations by the exact movements and positioning of equipment in complicated planting designs. Farmers will save 25% of their time with ROMI's weeding tool.

ROMI's practical research is guided by the knowledge of experienced agricultural communities, and it is field-tested over 4 seasons at two key locations: Chatelain Maraîchage near Paris and Valldaura

Self-sufficiency Labs near Barcelona. All ROMI outputs will be made available under public hardware/software licenses, allowing a social network to suggest, modify, and build additional features based on-farm needs.

Diseases and strain monitoring, sowing, harvesting, irrigation, soil, and genetic profiling may all be possible uses depending on these computerized and robotic techniques. We anticipate that the initiative will provide a piece of unique solid evidence piece of unique solid evidence, paving the way for the widespread adoption of information sharing among scientists and farmers who use microforms.

With its combined harvester,' an Indian business might transform the ocean farming.

 Seaweed, which is commonly used to wrap sushi and flavor soups has much more potential as a food and in a variety of applications ranging from pharmaceuticals and clothing to biodegradable materials and indeed biofuel.

Seaweed is usually cultivated in the water on ropes or nets, although modern processes create huge production nearly difficult. According to Shrikumar Suryanarayan, co-founder and CEO of India Sea6 Energy and former head of research and development at Biocon, an Indian pharmaceutical business focusing on biologically-sourced pharmaceuticals, ocean farming is still in the "stone ages." "It's like farming with a shovel and a picker."

With its "Sea Combine," a computerized catamaran that gathers and replants seaweed in the ocean, Sea6 Energy, which was founded in 2010, hopes to mechanize ocean farming in the same way that tractors did for farmland.

The machine moves back and forth between seaweed lines, collecting mature plants and replanting them with newly seeded lines.

A prototype is now being tested off the coast of Indonesia at the company's seaweed farm. According to Suryanarayan, the Southeast Asian nation has a long tradition of seaweed farming, which entails residents attaching bits of seaweed to ropes and dragging them out to sea before physically collecting the lines. The business plans to deploy additional Sea Combines as technology advances and the industry expands, especially in its native nation of India.

As per analytics company Fortune Business Insights, although the global seaweed sector grew in size between 2005 and 2015, producing 33 million metric tonnes in 2018, labor-intensive and expensive production is expected to stymie market growth.

According to Suryanarayan, the price of seaweed limits its potential applications, and in today's market, seaweed is often only financially sustainable for high-priced food uses.

Suryanarayan expects that the Sea Combine will reduce prices and make seaweed more affordable, allowing it to be utilized more extensively.

He believes that doing so will not harm local lives since village cooperatives will be able to lease the equipment, permitting them to farm a bigger area.

Fuel and food

According to Suryanarayan, the Sea Combine is only "a tool" in Sea6 Energy's larger business. According to him, the firm, which has garnered $20 million in investment, and now utilizes the seaweed gathered by the machine to make small-scale items like animal feed and agricultural fertilizer.

While Suryanarayan concedes the company's progress has been gradual, owing in part to a lack of funding in its early years, he feels it is now at an "inflection moment," with the foundations set, technology developed, and widespread interest in seaweed's ability to combat climate change.

The company's next move is to extend its line of seaweed-based goods, beginning with biopolymers, which it hopes to start producing within the next 4 years.

The EU has funded research on seaweed as a recyclable substitute for plastic over the past decade. Notpla, a London-based business, has already utilized seaweed to produce biodegradable drink and sauce containers.

Sea6 Energy is now working on its biopolymer to start replacing plastic and paper baggage.

The company's greatest objective, though, is to transform seaweed into biofuel, reducing India's reliance on crude oil. The company's scientific study indicates that it is technically doable, but Suryanarayan acknowledges that there is still a still far to go until becomes financially viable.

Vincent Doumeizel, head of the Lloyd's Register Foundation's Food Programme and senior advisor at the UN Global Compact (UNGC), the UN's corporate sustainability effort, is suspicious. "To create a few liters of oil, we'd need thousands and acres of seaweed," he tells CNN Business. "Using seaweed for biofuel is equivalent to using diamonds for pebbles in my opinion."

Instead, Sea6 Energy, according to Doumeizel, should concentrate on spaces where seaweed can make an instant influence. Because it contains substances that stop microbes in a cow's gut from producing methane, seaweed-enriched cattle feed can reduce bovine methane emissions; biodegradable plastics could play a part in carbon reduction; and the nutrient-dense plants could help support the increasing world population, he says.

But first, industry funding must increase, according to Doumeizel, who applauds firms who are developing technologies for large-scale production.

In this, Sea6 Energy is not alone. Seaweed Solutions of Norway created the "Seaweed Carrier," a sheet-like device capable of growing vast amounts of kelp in deep water and AtSeaNova of Belgium created a mobile seeding and harvesting system.

"One of the methods... to improve the planet's stability is through sea agriculture," adds Suryanarayan. "If we can prove that it is economically feasible, our job and mission will be fully accomplished."

What Does Aquaponics Mean? Definition, Advantages, and Drawbacks

GHG emissions are accounted for 25% of modern agriculture, forestry, and other land uses. Agriculture relies heavily on synthetic fertilizers to create food, which may be costly and pollute the environment. Is aquaponics a viable option for agriculture? What is aquaponics, and how is it diverse from hydroponics? What are some of the advantages of aquaponics?

What Does Aquaponics Mean? Basic Definition

Aquaponics is the production of plants and aquatic animals in a sequencing batch environment, as per a report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization and SmartFish.

Aquaponics is a concept that combines the words aquaculture (fish farming in a contained environment) and hydroponics (the growing of plants usually in a soil-less environment). to express a connection between plants and fish.

Small indoor units to huge commercial units are available in aquaponic systems. They might be freshwater systems or systems that contain salt or brackish water.

In other aspects, aquaponics is the production of fish and plants in a built, recirculating environment using natural bacterial cycles to convert fish waste to plant nourishment, according to the Aquaponics Gardening Community, referenced by Thorarinsdottir. This is a sustainable, ecologically friendly food-growing system that combines the greatest features of aquaculture and hydroponics without the need to waste water or apply artificial fertilizers.

Understanding Aquaponics through Aquaculture

As the consumption of seafood has grown, science has enabled food to be grown in coastline marine waters and the marine environment, according to the National Ocean Service. Aquaculture is a way of producing food and other economic items, as well as restoring habitat and replenishing wild stocks, and rebuilding vulnerable and endangered animal populations.

Aquaculture is divided into two types: marine and freshwater. Aquaculture is also defined by the FAO as the regulated growing and harvesting of fish and other sea animal and plant species in captivity. Many aquatic animals, including fish, crabs, and mollusks, as well as aquatic plants and algae, have been farmed. Aquaculture production systems have been established in different parts of the world and have consequently been adapted to diverse environmental and climatic circumstances. Open water systems (e.g., cages, longlines), pond cultivation, flow-through water channels, and circulating aquaculture systems are the four basic kinds of aquaculture (RAS).

Using Hydroponics to Understand Aquaponics

There are alternatives to growing food straight from the earth. In a transcript from an FAO study, soil-less cultures are described as a method of cultivating agricultural crops without the need for soil. Various inert growth mediums, often known as substrates, are employed instead of soil.

Plant support and moisture retention are provided by these mediums. Irrigation systems are built into this medium, delivering nutritional solutions to the root zones of the plants.

This solution contains all of the nutrients required for plant development. Hydroponics is the most prevalent form of soilless growth, which involves growing plants with bare roots on a substrate or in an aqueous media.

What is the Process of Aquaponics? What's the Story Behind Aquaponics?

Fish consume the food and produce waste, which is transformed into fertilizers that the plants may utilize by helpful microorganisms. Plants assist to filter water by eating these nutrients.

In-Depth Look at Aquaponics Design

Aquaponics is a production technique that combines aquaculture with hydroponics. The food introduced for the fish serves as the system's input in aquaponics. As fish consume and assimilate this material, urine and feces are produced, both of which are high in ammonia and may be harmful to plants and fish in large quantities.

After that, the water (now ammonia-rich) passes from the fish tank into a biofilter, along with un-consumed food and decomposing plant materials. Bacteria then decompose it all back into natural nutrient solutions (nitrogen-rich) for growing plants within the biofilter.

As we can see, freshwater aquaponics systems rely on three primary elements: freshwater aquatic animals (fish), nitrifying bacteria, and plants - all of which are interdependent to live. Plants wouldn't have a viable form of nutrients if bacteria didn't devour the fish waste, which is why natural filtering is so important. Plant growth also removes nutrients from the water, maintaining it healthy of the fish.

Benefits of Aquaponics

As per the FAO, there are several advantages to using a system design like aquaponics to generate food. What are the advantages of aquaponics?

One of the advantages of aquaponics is that it allows for a more efficient food production system while yet remaining sustainable.

Aquaponics is the production of two economic products (fish and vegetables) from a single nitrogen source (fish food).

Aquaponics is a system that uses very little water. In fact, according to Nelson and Pade, aquaponics uses just 1/6th of the water that traditional agriculture does produce 8 times higher food per acre.

Because aquaponics does not require soil, it is immune to soil-borne infections.

Aquaponics does not necessitate the use of fertilizers or pesticides.

Higher yields and quality output are synonymous with aquaponics.

Aquaponics provides more biosecurity and fewer hazards from external pollutants.

Aquaponics provides for more production control (since it is easier than soil control), resulting in lesser losses.

Aquaponics may be employed in non-arable environments like as deserts, deteriorated soil, or salty, sandy islands.

Aquaponics produces less waste since it follows nature's cyclical pattern.

Aquaponics needs labor-saving daily duties, harvesting, and planting, making it suitable for people of all genders and ages.

Aquaponics can help landless and disadvantaged households secure food and small revenues by integrating livelihood options.

Aquaponics produces fish protein, which is a useful complement to many people's diets.

Aquaponics is a fully natural process that replicates all of the world's lakes, ponds, rivers, and waterways.

Aquaponics supplies sustenance in the form of both protein  (from the fish) and veggies from a nutritional viewpoint.

Weaknesses of Aquaponics:

There are two sides to every coin. Also, according to the FAO analysis, there are certain drawbacks to using an aquaponics system. So, what are aquaponics' shortcomings?

One of the aquaponics' flaws is it is extremely expensive initial start-up expenses (when compared to both hydroponics and soil production methods).

Aquaponics necessitates extensive knowledge of the natural world. Farmers must understand not just how to cultivate crops but also how fish and bacteria function to be successful. Also required are technical abilities in plumbing or wiring.

Following up on the previous point, finding a perfect match between the demands of fish and plants (such as pH, temperature, and substrate) can be difficult.

When compared to standalone aquaculture or hydroponics, aquaponics offers fewer management choices (a problem that will be discussed later).

Management errors can swiftly bring the system down;

Daily management is required, thus the organization is essential.

It has an energy demand, hence it has energy expenses.

Regular purchases of fish feed are required.

Aquaponics consumables alone aren't enough to offer a complete diet; therefore, an efficient aquaponics system requires excellent organic solid filtration, which is performed by bacteria or algae. Ineffective solid waste disposal causes more than two-thirds of aquaponics system failures.

Taking Care of an Aquaponics System

Aquaponics is a way of cultivating crops and other plants that is environmentally friendly. The plant "kingdom" replicates nature by repurposing scraps from the animal kingdom (fish) to complete a continuous cycle. However, obtaining and maintaining the system's balance, as well as ensuring ideal circumstances for the fish and plants, necessitates careful monitoring of several factors.

The following are the primary production characteristics that must be precisely regulated to satisfy the ideal demands of plants and fish:

The temperature of the air;

The temperature of water;

macro-and micronutrient concentrations

The amount of dissolved oxygen in air and water varies

depending on the filtering technology utilized.

CO2 levels in the air and the water;

pH;

Light.

The greater the system's production, the more "perfect" these characteristics are. Insects, illnesses, and other sorts of pollution can be avoided by paying attention to these aspects. Furthermore, establishing enough surface area to build a bacterial colony to convert all of the fish wastes while maintaining an optimal balance between fish waste and vegetable nutrient needs.

Aquaponics' Potential Applications

Aquaponics systems, according to the FAO, are made up of components that come in a variety of forms and sizes. From little goldfish and herb devices on kitchen tables to bigger systems growing silver perch fish and lettuce. More complicated machines can generate tonnes of fish and thousands of plants every month on an industrial scale.

Aquaponics' Current Applications:

1. Small-scale or domestic aquaponics system

This is a 1000-liter fish tank with a 3m2 growth area, excellent for residential production.

2. Aquaponics, both semi-commercial and commercial

This entails approaching an aquaponics system from the standpoint of a market with few participants due to high startup costs

3. Education Educational sites are using small aquaponics

Systems to fill the gap among the general population and sustainable agriculture practices.

4. Interventions in humanitarian relief and food security

Aquaponics systems may be utilized by pilots in poor nations to address local people's food security demands because they operate anywhere in the world.

Aquaponic Units Design

There are three primary aquaponics systems utilized worldwide, according to Thorarinsdottir: media bedding, floating rafts, or deep water culture (DWC), and nutrient film technology (NFT). The plant roots in the NFT (in a thin layer of water) and raft/DWC systems (floating rafts in big water tanks) grow straight into the water, whereas the media beds use varied media in an "ebb and flow" process.

Prospective plant nutrition research on a global scale

The increased mass crop cultivation for biofuel, as well as the world's demand for more protein, particularly in the form of meat, have contributed to the challenge's complexity. A 60 percent increase in agricultural production will be required, with 90 percent of the increase coming from improving production efficiency and intensity. Because 50 percent of the world is now fed on food from fertilized areas, improving output will require a better understanding and control of plant nutrition as a fundamental goal.

"As long as agriculture remains a soil-based business, large advances in productivity are unlikely to be achieved without ensuring that plants have an appropriate and balanced source of nutrients," as Per Pinstrup Anderson, then Director-General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (FPRI), expressed it in 2000.

Between 1960 and 2020, the world's population will have tripled, but available agricultural land will have halved. To compound the problem, even though maize output has been steadily increasing at 120 kg per hectare per year, world per capita cereal production has remained unchanged. It fell from 374 kg per capita in 1985 to 340 kg per capita in 2007. (Figures 1 and 2).

In recent years, a new component has emerged: the notion of farming for health, which aims to promote human health as well as yield, soil fertility, profitability, and environmental effect. Not only is food security (kilojoules) the new goal, but also nutrition security (supply of all essential nutrients).

In an African context, it's paradoxical that Sub-Saharan Africa, which is seen as the foundation for future greater food production (some estimate that this continent would account for 70% of global growth), utilizes only around 6 kg of fertilizer per acre on average and is considered as having the most physical and economic water constraint.

A fertilizer firm must position itself proactively and pledge to invest in plant nutrition and agricultural research to address these difficulties, as well as acquire and sustain a competitive edge in a severe commercial international environment by providing practical terms on the farm. To address the aforementioned difficulties, Omnia Fertilizer invests around 30 million Rand (ZAR) each year in plant nutrition research. The key study topics linked to plant nutrition requirements for the foreseeable future, as indicated by international agencies and Omnia Fertilizer, will be briefly discussed in the subsequent paragraphs, with special reference to grain crops.

Efficient water usage

International studies have identified increased water usage efficiency as the most important factor in improving food output. Nitrates, for example, are a type of fertilizer that improves water efficiency. Correct fertilizer management also improves crop water usage efficiency. For example, effective pasture fertilization may reduce the amount of water required to produce one unit of beef by half.

The flip side of the coin is that good irrigation and soil moisture management improve fertilizer utilization efficiency significantly.

Efficiency in the utilization of nutrients, particularly nitrogen

Nutrient utilization efficiency, particularly nitrogen, is the second most significant element coming from worldwide publications to make a difference in food production. On commercial farms in wealthy nations, nitrogen usage efficiency has been demonstrated to be about 40%, although field studies in the same countries have revealed that efficiency rates of more than 80% are achievable. Ohio State University in the United States discovered that applying greater potassium levels than the industry standard increased nitrogen utilization efficiency in maize from 45 percent to 80 percent. The effectiveness of nitrogen utilization on maize has been demonstrated in the United States, with 70 kg of maize grain produced per kilogram of nitrogen (Figure 3). In South Africa, Omnia Fertilizer experiments have shown that utilizing the differential application, it is feasible to generate 113 kg of maize grain per kilogram of nitrogen applied on sandy soil.

It is evident that there is no silver bullet when it comes to nitrogen management, but an integrated strategy that takes into account a variety of elements should be followed.

Best methods in management and a well-balanced nutrition

The 4R strategy, which means using the appropriate product at the right rate, time, and location, is the foundation of this age-old yet still-developing field of study. Solid prior practices, such as a properly balanced diet and liming programs, must be built upon (Figure 4), but more nutritional factors and their interactions must be studied than previously. For example, there are now 17 components officially recognized as required for plant nourishment. The well-known list has been expanded to include chloride and nickel. There are also the so-called helpful factors to take into consideration: aluminum, cobalt, sodium, selenium, and silicon. New cultivars designed for drought resistance and increased nitrogen usage efficiency, for example, will become more dominant and will require specific nutritional care.

Nutrition practices for conservation cultivation systems

Good management involves the use of crop rotations and soil protection measures, the incorporation of organic matter into the soil, and the appropriate use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and farm machinery, all of which are linked to the preceding point.

Whatever conservation tillage approach is used - restricted tillage, strip-till, pure no-till, or direct sowing - the foundation of appropriate plant nutrition or soil fertility must be established, with the imperative requirement of addressing any conceivable soil physical limits. Defining and maintaining such fertility thresholds in various crop rotation situations is a serious task.

It's also crucial to understand the dynamics and efficiency of nutrients in expanded mulch and waste systems.

Farming precision and risk management

Precision agriculture technology is progressing at a breakneck speed. In most situations, even the most basic comprehension and usage of this technology, much alone its application, is lacking. Zone management for soil fertility, for example, should follow zone identification based on soil physical properties, water holding capacity, and drainage. More complications arise from precise and variable rate application of ameliorants, fertilizer, and seed. The most difficult issue at hand is to manage and make the best use of massive databases, or "big data," to make a genuine impact at the farm field level. It will be critical to use the spatial interpretation of such linked datasets with geographic information systems to detect and quantify danger, not just in terms of plant nutrition. Proximal and distant sensing are also rapidly evolving. On the nanotechnology front, new sensors (including nutrients) are coming, and they will be incorporated into precision agricultural systems.

Environmental effect and product efficiency

From the plant to the field, every fertilizer firm will have to improve its production efficiency to meet the new challenges. Slow and controlled release fertilizers, stabilized fertilizers, trace element-supplemented fertilizers, and soluble / liquid fertilizers, according to international publications, will continue to be prioritized. With an increased focus on fertilizer environmental effect and water efficiency, nitrate-based fertilizers are receiving increasing attention. For example, it is well known that ammonium nitrate has a 25% lower impact on greenhouse gas output (CO2) per unit of nitrogen than urea and that nitrates significantly improve plant water usage efficiency (see below).

Biostimulants and elicitors

An elicitor is a chemical that causes a plant to develop a resistance and/or hypersensitive response. Elicitors can be specific nutrients (essential or helpful). Elicitors are proteins that trigger genes involved in a plant's defensive response.

Agricultural biostimulants are various formulations of chemicals and other items that are applied to plants or soils to control and increase the physiological processes of the crop, hence increasing their efficiency. The most crucial point to remember is that crop bio-stimulation works in tandem with crop nutrition and crop protection. Understanding and using the above relatively new principles is critical as the worlds of plant nutrition, stimulants, and pesticides become more intertwined.

Nanotechnology

This is, without a doubt, the most misunderstood and misquoted technology currently under development.

In 1999, Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley spoke to the United States House Committee on Science about the advantages of nanotechnology. He stated that the influence of nanotechnology on population lives, wealth, and lifestyles will be at least as great as the cumulative effects of nanoelectronics, medical imaging, computer-aided engineering, and man-made polymers produced in the twentieth century.

Nanomaterials may aid in the regulated release of agrochemicals for nutrition and insect and pathogen protection, transfer of genetic material, sensitive detection of plant illness and pollutants, and the development of soil structure, according to the literature on nanotechnology's involvement in plant and soil systems.

Understanding how nutrition, plant physiology, and soil microbes interact is so important.

This interesting new branch of molecular study opens up a plethora of possibilities and provides explanations for many field-observed events. Recent papers, for example, explain why sulfur nutrition of plants produces the plant hormones auxin and jasmonate, why nitrate feeding and iron acquisition are linked, as well as numerous hormones necessary for water management in plants, such as abscisic acid.

Acknowledging the rhizosphere's interaction with soil microbial communities to enhance nutrient absorption and create particular hormones is also a part of this line of research.

Making an impact on the farm

Omnia Fertilizer's goal is to use expertise to maximize its customers' prosperity (lower risk and enhance marketable production and quality). It's pointless to invest in such expertise if you don't put it to use on the farm. Participation of producers, collaboration with other entities and disciplines, and, most importantly, technological transfer are all required. Omnia Fertilizer is now participating in interdisciplinary strip experiments with Grain SA as a co-worker and sponsor. Omnia Fertilizer aims to provide real-world information to South African farmers, as well as farmers in other Omnia-managed nations, by putting numerous feet on the ground and, perhaps, contributing in some tiny way to feeding the world of the future.

Farm-centric research has both advantages and disadvantages for an operating farm

Will the... novel variety, the automated weeder, the sophisticated irrigator... function as well in the field as it does in the lab?

Farmers are frequently hosting or taking part in innovative technology demonstrations. Defra has also indicated its intention to "put farmers in the driver's seat" of R&D, with several funding sources in place to encourage farmer-tech developer collaboration.

As a result, Agri-TechE has created a one-day program to assist participants in better comprehending the underlying concepts, aligning expectations, and realizing the complexities of conducting trials on a commercial farm.

Farm trials allow you to assess alternative tactics, such as whether this herb mix in a grass ley would be a better cover crop than this one. To put new technology and procedures to the test, as well as to kick the tires of revolutionary machines (literally).

However, if you are new to trials, you may have some queries, such as:

• Can farmers take part in experiments that yield useful data without taking too much time away from their farms?
• How can you convince farm employees to make trial management an exciting possibility rather than a chore?
• How reliable must an experimental study be before conclusions may be drawn?
• What questions should you ask a researcher before collaborating on a project?

Some of the factors for farm-based trials' basic concepts

Farmers, technologists, and researchers all seek to accomplish different objectives through trials, but there are certain fundamental principles that apply to all of them.

Consistent - scientific investigations require a precise technique, or protocol, to ensure that all trials are conducted in the same way. This allows you to integrate or compare data from multiple fields, herds, flocks, or farms.

Repeatable — if the experiment is repeated, the findings must be the same to demonstrate that it was a real finding and not a 'one-off.'

Control - a plot of land or cattle that is handled identically to the trial. The ideal situation is for the variable under study to be the only variable that varies. On-farm, this can be tough, but sometimes the control is only another area of the same field, or animals or birds that haven't been treated.

Timing - processes in the study must be completed at predetermined times, such as having the same day for blood samples or crop drilling throughout trials on various farms. If this happens during a busy period on a working farm, the experiment might be postponed if other tasks are more pressing. It may be possible to hire a contractor or sequence processes ahead of time to prevent pressure points.

Documentation — all procedures must be written down. There is equipment that can assist in recording, and it is typically automated and will (hopefully!) collect data in the same format so that it can be compared between trials. Another topic for the planning stage is how data is gathered.

Data analysis - the data must be useful not only to the scientist but also to the farmer. Early on, agreeing on "how good is good enough" is an excellent way to ensure that everyone's expectations are aligned and no one is disappointed!

Potato farmers are currently facing a number of issues

One of the issues facing a potato farm is rising input expenses. Nick Sheppard, farm manager of Upton Suffolk Farms in Bury St Edmunds, conducted the first Agri-TechE farm walk of 2022 to demonstrate agri-tech in action and address the need for innovation in a time of crisis.

"Rising expenses are a problem, particularly with the Ukraine scenario," Nick explains. Nitrogen cost me less than £200 two years ago and over £300 last year. It's now £650 if you can find it at all. "I heard of a boat carrying DAP fertilizer from Russia that was turned away at the port.

" Another major concern is agri-inflation, which the AF Group predicts will reach 22%."

"We grow 123ha of potatoes, which is the farm's financial backbone, and they're entirely for consumption rather than processing." Planting will take place in early- to mid-March, with harvesting taking place from late July to September. We put some in short-term storage to lengthen the season, but the remainder is going directly to the shelves of large stores."

Growing potatoes is something I like doing.

"I've spent most of my working life on farms — I've been at Upton Suffolk Farms for three and a half years and worked as a potato agronomic before that." I adore farming potatoes; it is, without a question, my favorite crop.

"To get a respectable return on salad potatoes, we need to sell a million or more tubers per hectare, but the aim isn't just production — we're seeking a specific size and quality." A little potato (45mm diameter or smaller) is worth roughly £300 per tonne, but bigger potatoes might be for as little as £50 per tonne depending on the market and contract.

"We're out digging 2m plots twice a week in late June/early July, taking the potatoes back, making size splits, and measuring them since the difference in returns is so significant." It's a game of deduction.

"You may leave it two days after harvesting and lose a lot of value." On the other hand, we can't collect tubers smaller than 25mm since they'll get caught in the machines. If there are many tubers under 25mm, I may let additional potatoes develop above the 45mm band in order to increase the number of little potatoes over the 25mm band. When to stop the potatoes from developing is always a difficult decision."

A potato grower faces several problems.

"We've kept the seed potatoes in cold storage until now, and if the weather cooperates, I'd want to have them planted by early March." They've been kept at 3-4 degrees until just before Christmas when I turn on the ethylene generator to encourage stem growth and prevent chitting.

"What we do is fully determined by market forces." Some supermarkets require more audits than others, and different auditing procedures exist. Also, Red Tractor and LEAF are fantastic ideas, but they both come with a lot of red tape.

"Some of our potatoes also make their way to wholesale markets in London, where chefs are picky and like Maris Peer." To be fair, it's a tasty potato, but new potato types are on the way that can produce 1.5 million tubers per acre while also having better agronomic characteristics — it's the pinnacle of breeding technique. But Maris Piper and Maris Peer are what the customers demand, therefore that's what we cultivate."

The farm also grows onions in sets for supermarket sales, as well as sugar beet for British Sugar's Silver Spoon brand.

The advantages of using an anaerobic digester are numerous.

On-site, there is an anaerobic digester that supplies gas to the national grid and is managed by a third company. As a feedstock for the plant, the farm grows maize and energy rye, which provides liquid and solid digestate as products, which are utilized as fertilizer on the farm.

The farm purchased a Rotormax, a machine from Holland, to disperse the digestate. The spreader digs two-inch furrows in the soil and injects the digestate straight into the soil, providing fertilizer for the following crop. This reduces volatilization by limiting the digestate's exposure to the air.

"We have 20,000 cubic meters of digestate on hand," Nick explains. "That will provide the majority of the nourishment our crops require."

The facility, which was once operated by Strut & Parker, is now controlled by Material Change, a professional AD operator who, as Nick points out, "is producing significantly more gas and digestate, which is wonderful."

CO2, the second by-product, is sold to the beverages sector and goes to Bury St Edmunds' Greene King Brewery.

Soil conservation strategies

The soil, which varies in quality and depth across the land, is a huge concern for Nick.

"The soil type on our land varies greatly. Some areas have blowing sand, which implies that if March and April are dry, any little sugar beet plant might be wiped off by the wind. To counteract the blow, we've begun growing barley between the fields of sugar beet. The barley is up just ahead of the beets, and we rinse it off in May when the crop cover is sufficient.

"We have weed beet problems, so we're trying out a new technique that sprays the weed beet out." We were among the first in our farmer group to use Conviso Beet last year, and it performed admirably.

"Previously, the field produced 26 t/ha of sugar, which is - well, don't bother." The Conviso Beet produced 85 tonnes per hectare this year. The costs went up by £100 per hectare, yet this was one of our highest-yielding fields."

Nutrient monitoring using soil analysis

"The use of mineral fertilizers is drastically decreasing. Now, depending on the soil and digestate studies, I'm customizing it for each field.

"I'm collaborating with an outside specialist to enhance soil management." Micronutrients are fully available around pH 6.5-7, but when the pH rises above 7, the calcium in the soil begins to lock up more and more of the nutrients. Because all of our soils have a high pH – two fields have a pH of 7, while the others have a pH of 8-9 – we have a lot of phosphate, manganese, and magnesium lock-up issues.

"I do a three-year soil core analysis across the farm, but I do a year-by-year analysis on the potatoes and onions."

"We now provide tissue analysis as well." In the spring and summer, you remove the newest leaves from a growing plant, send them to a laboratory, and the findings are returned three days later. They can notify you if a crop is lacking in nutrients, and then you may use a foliar spray to restore the nutritional balance.

"Because this liquid digestate has a high nitrogen availability, I'd recommend using it in the spring rather than the fall, when there are few crops that may benefit from it."

"While I understand the drinking water and environmental aspects of the Farming Requirements in England, we need clearer guidance — some of the rules are practical, while others are quite academic."

Use of cover crops

According to Nick, the adoption of cover crops has been a significant development in farming techniques in recent years.

"We are mostly a spring-producing farm, so much of this area would have been left bare ten years ago." Between our income crops, we now farm 240 acres of green cover crops.

"There are a few explanations behind this." To begin with, it provides cover for wildlife; furthermore, it enhances soil organic matter and framework; and third, it provides an outlet for our biowaste, which we can use on the cover crop to improve soil quality and prevent the machines and equipment, and then it will be integrated into the soil straight or via sheep. It also makes the farm a lot more appealing to watch at in the winter, and tactics like these are helping to increase the number and variety of birds on the property.

"Over 50% of these cover crops are grazed by sheep belonging to a local farmer." He purchases sheep from the highlands and fattens them here. He pays me per sheep every day, which accommodates the cost of the seed, so we're in a good position financially.

"Another advantage of these cover crops is that they may be used as a control for potato cyst nematode (PCN)." This bug attacks the potato's roots, decreasing the plant's capacity to absorb nutrients and water, and lowering production. PCN, Rostochiensis, and Pallida are all present in considerable concentrations. Some potato types are resistant to one or both of these, but our capacity to diversify is restricted since, when cultivating table potatoes, the consumer only wants to buy the well-known kinds like Maris Peer and Piper. There are significantly superior potatoes to cultivate in terms of agronomy and eating quality, but most people choose the well-known kinds."

Irrigation equipment

"All of our irrigation decisions must be justified for Red Tractor." We've installed EnviroScan soil probes to aid with this, which go down a meter and read the water content of the soil at four different depths. Solar power is used to power the sensors, which communicate through 4G. With an app on my phone, I get a daily report so I can observe how the crops are utilizing water. However, it is only a recommendation; I still check with my spade!

"We all know that the better the soil structure is, the less water goes through it." On this area, accumulating organic stuff is challenging. We hope for some slight gains, but we want to keep the current levels.

"I've learned to irrigate far less than I did when these irrigation gadgets initially came out 25 years ago." Although technology has been beneficial, I continue to make my own decisions. It must be balanced with the weather prediction - one inch of rain tomorrow, and I may not irrigate – because plants want a combination of water and oxygen, so irrigation must be balanced.

Management of data

Potatoes"Another thing we do with technology is the sprayer - I can sit in my office and make my spray suggestions, then send them to the sprayer driver, who can then finish it and indicate how long it took and how much input was used, which is critical for food safety. From my office, I can see where they are on the farm, how quickly the tractor is traveling, and how much gasoline they've consumed. This is done using the tractor manufacturer's CASE Connect system.

"We use Gatekeeper to handle the data." It's complicated and time-consuming to set up; you must set up all of the fields, regions, and machines. Then it's simply like a paper record: 'On day y, I plowed field x and applied this quantity of input.'

"It's a large database; we have field recordings dating back over 10 years." The gatekeeper may also be used to employ GPS to direct tractors, set variable seeding and application rates, and track inputs. I'm quite sure I don't even utilize half of it."

Agri-finance models are showing great innovation

In 2021, the value of UK agri-tech acquisitions hit a new high of £1.3 billion, indicating continued interest in innovations that address the concerns of growing input prices, food security, and environmental consequences. Behind the headlines, there is a solid pipeline of early-stage startups assessing the optimal investment strategy and the expanding variety of funding possibilities.

The business network Agri-TechE is bringing together financial specialists to analyze the choices for the sector at the event 'Focus on Agri-Finance' on May 18, 2022, due to the increasing diversity of financing methods and the potential of the appropriate investors to boost growth.

Among the most recent agreements in the Agri-TechE ecosystem are:

• With the help of individuals, especially farmers interested in using its autonomous drones, DroneAg surpassed its £500k crowdfunding goal.
• Glaia, which raised £1 million from the Green Angels Syndicate, is a group of high-net-worth individuals who believe its innovative "sugar-dot" technology would revolutionize the world.
• Breedr has raised £12 million in a series of fundraising rounds that have included public funds as well as corporates from throughout the value chain.
• Better Origin, an insect-tech startup, has received $16 million in funding from venture capitalists.

Get guidance that is tailored to your needs.

"What's suitable for every one firm will be driven by particular requirements and aspirations," says Steve Thackwray, Director at PwC, ahead of the event. "It is crucial to ensure all sensible paths are investigated before picking what is right for you and your organization."

Jodi Bartin, CEO of Citicourt & Co, a financial advising firm, agrees. Citcourt mostly works with institutional investors (banks, pension funds), which means that for funding, they are looking at firms with revenues of more than £5 million. However, she is willing to assist businesses of all sizes and guide them in the correct direction: "It's very uncommon for someone to come in believing they want to do one thing - for example, sell their house – only to realize they have other alternatives after speaking with us."

More benefits are available with smart capital.

Greg Michel advises that businesses should explore all of their alternatives and that selecting an investor properly pays well. Greg is a partner at Cell Capital, a venture capital firm that has recently worked with agritech startups Breedr and Bon Vivant. He argues that for entrepreneurs, finding smart capital,' which refers to investors who provide more value to the founders than simply money, is becoming increasingly important.

"Investors can provide entrepreneurial expertise, sector knowledge, or specialized industry ties to early-stage enterprises," he explains.

Cell Capital is based on a number of theme funds that have already been established and are ready to invest. Each fund is managed in accordance with a plan devised in collaboration with the investors, who include family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and corporations, as well as traditional funds. This is referred to as 'Venture Capital as a Service' by the firm (VCaaS).

"We are advisers to the Investbridge Agritech VC Fund, which is presently approaching its first close," Greg continues. We're hoping for a $40 million final closure. This will provide us with enough firepower to establish a strong portfolio and offer follow-up as needed. We've led or co-led three of our five agrifoodtech portfolio firms thus far.

"The start-up collaborates with us throughout the investment's lifespan, simplifying the process and fostering a close partnership." In addition to these funds, we have the opportunity to invest in highly attractive firms prior to seed fundraising."

In a volatile market, are SPACs a viable option?

SPACs have lately been utilized to generate financing by a few of vertical farming firms. Companies preparing for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) may consider combining with a Special Purpose Acquisitions Company, or 'SPAC,' as an alternative to going it alone in a turbulent market. A SPAC is a shell corporation created by investors for the sole aim of obtaining funds and purchasing another firm.

AeroFarms announced a SPAC contract with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp in 2021, however, it was later canceled. Kalera stated in February 2022 that it will utilize a SPAC to list on the Nasdaq, and if approved, the merged firm would have an equity value of $375 million.

"A SPAC merger is merely another means of taking a company private and obtaining considerable funds to support future growth," Steve Thackwray explains. It has the potential to eliminate some of the difficulties that come with a typical IPO. They are usually quicker to complete, reduce the risk of price fluctuation, and bring you into collaboration with the SPAC Sponsor team, possibly giving extra financial and sector knowledge, but there are drawbacks, and the firm should be well advised."

Alternative foods and dairy and meat substitutes appear to be capturing the headlines and the finances, but Greg believes that non-specialists may not fully comprehend the complexity of this industry and that firms will require enormous sums of capex (capital expenditure) to expand.

"We're seeing a lot of interest in a lot of different options." Generalist capitalists will lean toward what they are familiar with; for example, in agriculture,' software as a service' marketing strategies that generate datasets are quite strong. Biocontrol agents, biostimulants, solutions for controlled environment agriculture, water management, epigenetics, traceability, and post-harvest procedures have all sparked the interest of specialized investors.

"Right now, the industry is booming, and we're seeing a lot of interest in investing."

Agriculture's Future Environmental Sustainability

Our demand for food is increasing as the world's population continues to increase. Farmers are always under pressure to generate more food in less time. In addition to massive agricultural production, environmental sustainability in agriculture is an extremely essential matter to consider.

Overpopulation is a serious problem in our world, and it hurts the environment on a regular basis. Agricultural projects currently occupy over half of the world's livable land. Millions of species are displaced as millions of acres of natural environment are gone.

Agricultural activities currently account for roughly 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Increasing agricultural acreage at the expense of the environment is just unsustainable. Wild places contribute to the Earth's tenuous hold on healthy ecosystems. As a result, these natural ecosystems aid in the reduction of global warming and the preservation of clean water systems.

Farmers are slowly but steadily understanding the need for sustainable agricultural methods in increasing yields and ensuring the industry's future as well as food security for all.

Continue reading to discover the different methods of farming that are gaining traction in modern agriculture.

New Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture

In agriculture, environmental sustainability entails farmers maintaining healthy soil and utilizing water in the most effective manner possible.

Food sustainability (definition) is the goal of growing enough food to feed an ever-increasing population while minimizing negative environmental repercussions.

Food farmed in a sustainable manner is safe and healthful for both customers and Mother Nature. Let's take a look at some of the most cutting-edge futuristic farming techniques available today.

Vertical Farming Systems are one example of agricultural innovation.

Vertical farming systems are crop-growing systems that take advantage of available interior space. Herbs and vegetables grow vertically rather than spilling out beside one another to save space. Thanks to urban farm technology, here are a few unique ways for farming sustainably.

1. Hydroponics - No requirement for soil

Hydroponics is a cutting-edge agricultural technique in which plants' roots are immersed in a nutrient-rich fluid. Nowadays, you can find hydroponics at big-name grocery shops like Safeway, where herbs like basil, oregano, and parsley are produced in a more sustainable manner.

2. Aeroponics - Plant cultivation in the air

The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) created an innovative indoor growing technology called "aeroponics" in order to identify effective ways to grow vegetation in space. "Aeroponics systems may cut water consumption by 98 percent, fertilizers usage by 60%, and pesticide consumption by 100%, all while optimizing crop yields," according to NASA.

3. Aquaponics - combining plant and fish farming

Aquaponics is a method of growing crops that mixes plants and fish in a confined habitat. Plants eat the nutrient-rich excrement generated by fish kept in indoor ponds. The plants, in return, help the fish by filtering and cleaning the wastewater, which is then recycled back into the ponds.

Vertical Farming Systems Advantages

The ability to produce more crops in less space is an apparent benefit of urban growing solutions, but there are several more advantages to vertical farming.

Reduced Water Consumption

In the United States, farming constitutes approximately to 90% of all consumptive water demand. Vertical farms are a closed micro-farming method, which means that no outside variables (such as evaporation) may influence water consumption. You may effectively reuse the same water repetitively, resulting in significant water savings.

Crop Production Throughout the Year

Environmental elements like as rainfall and temperature have little impact on these urban agricultural solutions. Crops have little effect on the seasons since they are grown in controlled surroundings. In a sheltered indoor micro-farm, seasonal crops may be grown all year.

Production of Chemical-Free Food

To safeguard the quality of crops in a closed system, toxic substances, and pesticides are completely pointless. Vertical farming uses a self-contained growth medium that does not affect the water table.

Employee-Friendly Urban Farm Tech is to credit for this.

Micro-farms are a considerably more secure option than commercial farms. Vertical farming, for example, does not necessitate the use of heavy equipment. For optimum output, high-tech vegetable farming systems are electronically monitored and operated, requiring minimum human participation.

Reducing Carbon Emissions

You are immediately lowering food miles if you use a vertical farming system at work or in your restaurant. When you gather vegetables on-site, your meal will have a better nutritional value.

Adopt Future Food Systems That Are Sustainable

Innovations in agriculture that promote environmental sustainability benefit the entire planet; we simply need to be committed to the process.

Farmers gain from sustainable agriculture as well, so it's not just Mother Earth who wins. Farmers can grow plentiful, healthy crops at a percentage of the cost by making effective, integrated use of accessible resources.

Begin with a vertical agricultural system if you aren't a farmer but want to raise your own sustainable food. Restaurants, workplaces, and nursing homes will benefit from these little micro-farms.