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Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), 9 June 2014 EFITA newsletter / 651 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment The Mini Mobile Robotic Printer by ZUtA Labs Ltd — Kickstarter See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybrhomrv4Hk Information provided by Giorgio AMANTE E-mail: amantegiorgio(a)gmail.com 
To correspond with me (GW), please use this address: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net Smart Farming and the need for a software collaboration platform 18-19 June 2014 – PARIS Keynote speaker at Smart AgriMatics CTO Peter van der Vlugt will present the vision of Kverneland Mechatronics on 'Smart Farming and the need for a software collaboration platform'. See: http://www.smartagrimatics.eu/news/newsid/201 EAPRIL conference 25 – 28 November - NICOSIA, Cyprus EAPRIL stands for European Association for Practitioner Research on Improving Learning (in education and professional practice). It is a non-profit organisation under Belgian law, governed by an Executive Board in cooperation with the EAPRIL office. EAPRIL tries to increase the impact of practice-based and applied educational research on educational policy. Its headquarters is located in Leuven (Belgium), close to Brussels being the centre of Europe. The founding members of EAPRIL have been involved in educational research and practice and decided to organise the first PBPR conference, the European Practice-Based and Practitioner Research Conference on Learning and Instruction, in 2006. Due to their great success, the conferences have been organised annually since then. See: http://www.eapril.org/education_learning/EAPRIL2014 Contact : Inneke BERGHMANS E-mail: inneke.berghmans(a)ppw.kuleuven.be
Digital disruption on the farm. Managers in the most traditional of industries distrust a promising new technology (…) the American Farm Bureau, the country’s largest organisation of farmers and ranchers, is drawing up a code of conduct, saying that farmers own and control their data; that companies may not use the information except for the purpose for which it was given; and that they must not sell or give it to third parties. The companies agree with those principles, though so far their contracts with farmers do not always embody them. Also, once data have been sent and anonymised, farmers might be said no longer to own them, so it is not clear what rights to them they still have. For this reason and others, some Texan farmers have banded together to form the Grower Information Services Co-operative, to negotiate with the data providers. See: http://www.economist.com/node/21602757/print i-LEED Advanced cattle feeding on pasture through innovative pasture management The i-LEED project is funded within the frame of the 2nd call of the ICT-AGRI, which is a cross-thematic ERA-NET scheme. The aim of the project is to optimise the feeding of cattle on pasture and to improve the management of the pasture, through introduction and fusion of innovative tools like the pasture robot and the i-LEED software. Within the project a demonstration of a fully functional pasture robot is set as an objective. The pasture robot will be developed based on a redesigned existing robotic platform in order to allow stable movement under difficult terrain conditions. Furthermore, different actuators (mulcher, seeder) and adequate sensors for pasture care will be designed, build and implemented on the platform. The i-LEED software will interact with a global Herd Management Software in order to provide adequate control of the pasture robot to ensure optimal maintenance of the pasture, as well as to provide calculation of the optimal feeding strategy for cattle. Consortium Members: - Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL), Freising (GER) - Ege University, Bornova-Izmir (TUR) - Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (Irstea), Antony Cedex (FRA) - Data Service Paretz GmbH, Ketzin (GER) - Effidence S.A.S, Saint-Saturnin (FRA) Internet page: www.i-LEED.eu or http://www.lfl.bayern.de/ilt/i-leed/en/index.php Contact: Dr.-Ing. Zoltan GOBOR E-mail: zoltan.gobor(a)lfl.bayern.de PlantLab (NL) We are living in interesting times. This is an understatement as far as cultivation in greenhouses is concerned. We will outline three developments that after 10,000 years of land cultivation on the plains of the earth’ could completely change the face of crop growing. See: http://www.plantlab.nl/4.0/
TTIP: Syngenta calls for harmonized safety standards In an exclusive interview with viEUws John Atkin, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Syngenta, talks about agriculture and trade perspectives with AGRA FACTS journalist Rose O’Donovan at the Forum on the Future of Agriculture 2014. Atkin explains that it is no longer necessary to increase inputs in order to grow more food: “new technologies enable farmers even with reduced inputs to maximise their yields”. Representing the agro-chemical company active in the marketing of seeds & pesticides, Atkin also discusses the European Commission’s decision to partially ban the use of certain neonicotinoids used as seed treatments due to harmful effects on bee health. The Syngenta COO argues that different food and health standards in developed regions must be harmonized, as it creates unnecessary burdens to trade. He expects that the future EU-US trade deal would be a solution, reducing the complexity of standards and bringing benefits to consumers. See: http://www.vieuws.eu/food-agriculture/ttip-syngenta-chief-calls-for-harmonized-safety-standards/ Agricultural tariffs: cuts have to be made to feed world population, claims Pascal Lamy – former Director General of WTO In an exclusive interview with viEUws, Pascal Lamy – former Director General of the World Trade Organisation and Honorary President of Notre Europe - Jacques Delors Institute – talks to AGRA FACTS journalist Rose O’Donovan about the agricultural dimension of trade at the Forum on the Future of Agriculture 2014. Lamy claims in the interview that the biggest challenge for agriculture is to produce more and different food, addressing increasing demand for food quality and safety. Furthermore, food waste needs to be addressed: “the amount of food that is wasted along the production to consumer chain creates a huge pit of efficiency which is still unexploited”. However, the most important aspect – according to the former EU Trade Commissioner – is to continue the path towards a multilateral trade deal, which is “the most efficient and fairest” and would help to address food security related issues. See: http://www.vieuws.eu/food-agriculture/ agricultural-tariffs-cuts-have-to-be-made-to-feed-world-population-claims-pascal-lamy-former-director-general-of-wto/ Trade facilitation: “win-win deal for all WTO members”, says Executive Director of International Trade Centre In an exclusive interview with viEUws, Arancha González, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), talks to Lénaïc Vaudin d’Imécourt - EU Trade Insights Editor – about the Trade Facilitation Agreement. In December 2013, after more than nine years of negotiations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) reached an important consensus on the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The Executive Director of the ITC states that this agreement addresses one of the biggest trade obstacles of today: the high costs of moving goods & services across borders. According to González, once the agreement is implemented, trading costs will be significantly reduced. Very good news in particular for Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs), because “the higher trading costs are, the less likely [SMEs] are to internationalise their trade”. González explains that the implementation of the agreement will be complemented by providing financial assistance and technical support to the poor and developing countries. See: http://www.vieuws.eu/foreign-affairs/ trade-facilitation-win-win-deal-for-all-wto-members-says-executive-director-of-international-trade-centre/
Make me feel like a woman!! On a transatlantic flight, a plane passes through a severe storm. The turbulence is awful and things go from bad to worse when one wing is struck by lightning. One woman, in particular, loses it. Screaming, she stands up in the front of the plane. 'I'm too young to die,' she wails. Then she yells, 'If I'm going to die, I want my last minutes on earth to be memorable! Is there anyone on this plane who can make me feel like a WOMAN?' For a moment, there is silence. Everyone has forgotten their own peril. They all stare, eyes riveted, at this desperate woman in the front of the plane. Then a Jackeroo from Australia stands up in the rear of the plane. He is handsome, well built, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He starts to walk slowly up the aisle, unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time. No one moves. He removes his shirt. Muscles ripple across his chest. She gasps. He whispers, 'Here, iron this. Then get me a beer'. The distribution of this efita newsletter is sponsored by vitisphere.com Please, contribute to the content of your efita newsletter, and advertise your events, new publications, new products and new project in this newsletter. Without your support, it will not survive! Contact: Guy WAKSMAN E-mail: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net To read this newsletter on our web site See: http://www.informatique-agricole.org/gazette/efita/efita_140609_651.htm
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