Paris, 6 April 2009


EFITA newsletter / 406 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


PROGIS Conference 2009
It will be hold as joined conference together with INSPIREd CEE-SDI- (EUROGI, CAGI, INSPIRE) and ISAF-Conference on May 12th and 13th in Prague, Czech Republic.
Additionally to the plenary presentations on the topic “ICT in rural areas” given by a number of well-know stakeholders from the public and private sector, there will take place specific workshops for large farm enterprises, farm cooperatives, agro-machine and agro-chemistry producers, agro-banks and insurance companies, and there are provided training courses on our software on 13th and 14th.
The topic of the PROGIS conference is the request for concerted actions to ensure that agriculture will be able to feed worldwide the ongoing growing population. Climate change, the reduction of natural resources, a stronger demand for bio-energy, urbanization and environmental protection are additional mega-trends that have to be considered by this so important economic sector. Hence, globally there is a strong demand for technologies and practical instruments for improving the planning, development and management of agriculture and forestry or in general, natural resources.
The PROGIS conference deals with IT Solutions and their practical implementations in a flourishing agriculture.
There will be shown how the single members of the food processing chain will move together to achieve through networks of work processes significant improvements by using Information and communication technologies for rural areas as they are a basic requirement to reach the targeted improvements.

>> Presentations on 12th and 13th
ICT in agriculture – the groundwork for food- and biomass production and a positive development of agriculture and forestry
Logistics – one element of an integrated rural area platform for adding value
Precision Farming – for the benefit of farmers and the environment
Risk- and resource management within landscapes - a workplace-reservoir – a red-hot topic and one answer to the current crises
Public-private business models - the base for holistic solutions

>> Workshops on 13th in the afternoon
Interfaces from add-on machines to documentation tools – the back office
IT solutions for large scale farming – farm management, logistics and precision farming
Agricultural insurance and agro-banking

>> Software introductory courses on 13th and 14th
- WinGIS
- AGROffice-DokuPlant
- LoGIStics
- FORESToffice

>> The topics of ISAF, the XV. European conference Information systems in Agriculture and Forestry conference will be:
- scientific opportunities and directions in the European Union
- information and communication technologies for rural areas
- Living Labs
- applications for agriculture and forestry
- eLearning for rural areas
- human aspect of information society development
- food safety and traceability

>> The topics of the I. INSPIREd CEE-SDI conference topics will be:
- Explore the state of play in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries regarding GI and SDIs
- Raise awareness of the benefits of GeoInformation and promote the advantages of modern SDI for enlarged Europe, especially for CEE countries, with respect to their specific conditions.
- Identify the extent to which INSPIRE could be a catalyst for the development of GI & SDIs in CEE countries.
- Identify opportunities for practical assistance with the establishment and/or development of National GI Associations in CEE countries where stakeholders request it.
- Discuss and promote the future funding to support ongoing future NGIA and GI/SDI development in CEE countries.
- Workshops LL4SDI and LL4R - Living Labs for Spatial Data Development (LL4SDI) and Living Labs as Enabler of Rural Development (LL4R) will be prior actions to the joined conferences and will be hold on 11th already.
See: http://www.progis.com/events/progis09/index.html
See: http://www.isaf.cz/index_en.php?iMenu=10


PotatoEurope 2009
> Exhibition – 9 & 10 September 2009
> Congress – 8 & 9 September 2009
See: http://www.potatoeurope2009.com


Increasing the Adoption of Precision Agriculture: 13th Symposium on Precision Agriculture in Australasia
10 - 11 September 2009 - University of New England Armidale, NSW, Australia
Conference themes: New Precision Agriculture Technologies; Water Use Efficiency; Carbon Farmscapes; Nutrient Management; Pasture Utilisation and Livestock; Tracking
The organising committee invites you to participate in the Symposium by submitting an abstract for an oral or poster presentation. The committee particularly invites abstracts relating to the identified symposium themes but will consider all abstracts submitted.
See: http://www.conferencecompany.com.au/precisionagri2009/
Contact: Emma LEONARD
E-mail: emma.leonard(a)bigpond.com


A lot of discussion at the last general meeting of the "American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists" about GM sugar beet
See: http://www.bsdf-assbt.org/assbt/Biennial%20Stuff/PosterProgram_2009.pdf


Wanted: Junior Professor (W 1) for Agribusiness Management (with emphasis on supply chain management) at the Faculty of Agricultural & Nutritional Sciences Christian-Albrechts-University (Kiel  Institute of Agricultural Economics - Germany)
The successful candidate will be appointed for 3 years with the option for a 3-year extension pending a favorable evaluation. The position represents a core element of the Institute’s agribusiness teaching and research program; it complements other sections of the Institute by contributing a business management perspective. Opportunities for cooperation with academic units outside the Institute of Agricultural Economics are encouraged, in particular with the Institute for Food Economics and Consumption, other institutes of the Faculty, as well as with the Faculty of Economics and Business.

Teaching duties will include the development and implementation of mandatory and optional modules in agribusiness management. Specifically, the successful candidate will take over two core modules within the agribusiness program: (1) Supply Chain Management and (2) Organizational Theory and Human Resources Management.

Research activities should center around the development and application of business management methods aimed at assisting stakeholders in the agrifood industry in identifying and solving decision-, coordination-, and implementation-problems in agribusiness firms and agrifood supply chains. Possible areas include firm management and strategy, value chain analysis, organizational behavior, management of small and medium-sized businesses, finance, and family business.
Closely aligned with the College’s goals and objectives, it is expected that the incumbent will actively pursue and obtain research grants, and contribute to international research through publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Expected qualification: Doctorate or PhD. in agricultural economics, agribusiness, business management, economics or related areas, with particular relation to theory and methods of the specified teaching and research subjects. The willingness to hold lectures in English language is a prerequisite. The maximum duration of employment is six years. Times of parental leave may be taken into account. The University seeks to increase the percentage of female professors and therefore specifically invites applications by qualified females. Handicapped candidates with equal qualifications will also be given preference.
Contact: Dr. Rolf A.E. MUELLER, Prof.
E-mail: raem(a)ae.uni-kiel.de


A very old Parable – this is how it operates …!

Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands of monkeys at $10 each and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He then announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each."

The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars.

They never saw the man or his assistant again … only lots and lots and lots of monkeys!



Now you have a better understanding of how the

WALL STREET BAILOUT PLAN WILL WORK!!!!



It really doesn't get much clearer than this...

Contact: Mick HARKIN
E-mail: harkin(a)iol.ie


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