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Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), 28 January 2019

EFITA newsletter / 862 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment

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Diffusion Efita newsletter 861 dated January 22, 2019
See efita


17 year olds dial a rotary phone (Do not miss it!)

A good test to see if youth of today can figure out how to dial an older rotary phone.
Voir vieux téléphone
Seen by Paul Jamet
E-mail: paul.jamet(a)free.fr


What goes up: are predictions of a population crisis wrong? By Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson - 27 Jan 2019 – The Guardian

…/…
Jørgen Randers, a Norwegian academic who decades ago warned of a potential global catastrophe caused by overpopulation, has changed his mind. “The world population will never reach nine billion people,” he now believes. “It will peak at 8 billion in 2040, and then decline.”
Similarly, Prof Wolfgang Lutz and his fellow demographers at Vienna’s International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis predict the human population will stabilise by mid-century and then start to go down.
A Deutsche Bank report has the planetary population peaking at 8.7 billion in 2055 and then declining to 8 billion by century’s end.
…/…
From Malthusian predictions at global conferences to the latest dystopian offering from Hollywood, pessimists predict a future of overcrowding, scarcity, conflict and possible collapse. But the premise is probably false. We need to prepare, not for the consequences of a population boom, but a population bust. A child born this decade will probably reach middle age in a world where population growth has stalled, and may already have begun to shrink. There could be much about this world to admire. It may be cleaner, safer, quieter. Urbanisation produces a marked decrease in carbon emissions per person – people using public transport, for example, rather than travelling by car – and as people move to the city, marginal farmland reverts to bush, a natural carbon sink and a boon to wildlife.

Economically, however, things could be more challenging, as societies struggle to grow with fewer young workers and taxpayers. Automation will help, but robots don’t buy refrigerators or a smart dress for the office party. Consumption remains the bedrock of any economy.

Population decline is not a good thing or a bad thing. But it is a big thing. It’s time to look it in the eye.

See theguardian.com

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Weekly newsletters about ICT in Agriculture in English and French
Both newsletters have around 14000 subscribers.
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Around 15% of subscribers have a look on these newsletters. A rather normal rate…
The archive for the last years are available on the AFIA web site.


Animal Agtech Innovation Summit

18 March - SAN FRANCISCO
- Building the Animal AgTech Industry Ecosystem: New Approaches to the Challenges in the Livestock Industry for Efficiency, Sustainability and Welfare
- Precision Nutrition: Targeting Animal Microbiomes for Functional Health
- Smart Livestock Farming: Empowering Farmers through Digital Insights
- Gene Editing: Designing the Farm Animals and Fish of Tomorrow
- New Pharmaceutical Frontiers: Preventing Diseases through Digitization and Nutrition
- The Rise of Aquaculture: Transforming the Industry through Tailored Technology Solutions
- Investment and Finance: How Corporate Venture Funds and VCs view the Opportunities in Animal AgTech- Building the Animal AgTech Industry Ecosystem: New Approaches to the Challenges in the Livestock Industry for Efficiency, Sustainability and Welfare
- Precision Nutrition: Targeting Animal Microbiomes for Functional Health
- Smart Livestock Farming: Empowering Farmers through Digital Insights
- Gene Editing: Designing the Farm Animals and Fish of Tomorrow
- New Pharmaceutical Frontiers: Preventing Diseases through Digitization and Nutrition
- The Rise of Aquaculture: Transforming the Industry through Tailored Technology Solutions
- Investment and Finance: How Corporate Venture Funds and VCs view the Opportunities in Animal AgTech
See worldagritechusa.com
See agfundernews.com


World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit
19-20 March - SAN FRANCISCO
See agfundernews.com


How retailers (horticulture and garden centres) can use social media to their advantage in 2019
See garden centres


F&A Next connects start-ups and agrifood companies

For true innovation, many companies need fresh ideas from outside the business. “That is why start-ups in the agrifood sector are so important”, says Jeroen Leffelaar, managing Director Food & Agri Innovation at Rabobank and one of the founders of F&A Next.
See futurefarming.com


mPowered aims to let farmers monetise their data

The mPowered technology platform aims to help farmers controll access to and profit from their own data.
See futurefarming.com


DOT farm robot tested by U.S. farmers

A much-discussed autonomous farming unit, the DOT Power Platform, is set to be tested by a select group of North American farmers this coming spring.
See futurefarming.com

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CNH Industrial and start-up AppsforAgri launch FarmXtend

CNH Industrial and AppsforAgri introduce a new ‘IoT’ product portfolio called FarmXtend.
See futurefarming.com


TechAccel and Donald Danforth Center Launch RNAissance to Create Environmentally-Friendly Pesticides

TechAccel, the venture development organization, and Donald Danforth Center for Life Sciences, the leading plant science research institute, have created a new startup called RNAissance.
RNAissance plans to use RNAi technology to create pesticides that target specific pests and have little or no impact on the surrounding environment or consumers.
See agfundernews.com


Cavallo Ventures Makes Seven Figure Investment In Pesticide Disruption

The California-based company makes CropCoat, a unique protective coating being touted as an alternative to more toxic pesticides on the market.
See forbes.com


FarmLogs Launches AutoHedge App to Help Farmers Market Their Grain Before Harvest

Decision support software developer FarmLogs has launched what it describes as a first-of-its-kind grain marketing service called AutoHedge for corn and soybean growers.
Based on hedging strategies developed by analyzing over 20 years of corn and soybean prices, the mobile app helps farmers market their grain while eliminating guesswork, brokerage accounts with margin calls, and the stress that comes with marketing a crop.
See agfundernews.com
See autohedgegrain.com

Next Efita
Congress
in Greece in 2019!


2019 Efita International Conference

27-29 June - RHODES - Greece

The topics for the EFITA 2019 conference are detailed below within topic groups.

Topic group 1: “Sensors”
This topic group refers to the development or optimization of sensors and electronics for agricultural applications, such as field scouting and crop parameters monitoring. Particular sub-topics could be:
- New sensors (optical, reflectance, etc.)
- Wireless sensor networks
- Image processing


Agricultural robots are also within this topic, focusing on automation and control technologies to optimise robotic applications in agriculture. Particular sub-topics could be:
- Scouting Robots
- Action Robots
- Machine embedded ICT tools

Topic group 2: “Data”
This topic group is related to all technologies and software that cure data mining, data warehousing, visualisation, knowledge extraction, big data management. Particular sub-topics could be:
- Big data management
- Data mining for agricultural information systems
- Data visualisation
- Data and Knowledge Management for extension services (with real examples)

Other subjects within this topic are interoperability, semantics and knowledge management, such as:
- Metadata and data standards in agriculture
- Thesaurus management, Knowledge management
- Ontologies for agriculture
- Knowledge bases and Knowledge repository services
- Web of Data, Linked Open Data


Topic group 3: “Decision”
This topic group is about modelling for simulation, prediction, crop management, design of ICT-intensive farming systems. Proposed sub-topics are:
- Modelling and Simulation for agricultural production and farming systems
- Weather prediction models for sustainable agricultural production
- Multi-Agent systems

Other “Decision” scientific work is about remote sensing, GIS technologies and spatial management of resources. It includes sub-topics such as:
- Remote Sensing and GIS applications
- Planning tools
- Environmental information systems and Environmental management systems
- ICT applications for natural resources management, including forestry
- ICT applications for sustainable biomass production and use

Finally, ICT applications regarding economical, organizational and business implications in agriculture are also used for business decision making. Such ICT tools are divided in:
- Decision Support Systems for Agriculture
- ICT applications for food chain and logistics
- Traceability tools
- ICT and business
- Rural economies and ICT policies for rural development


Topic group 4: “Action”
This topic group is mainly about design of ICT applications for agriculture and sustainability focusing on precision and knowledge intensive agriculture. It includes sub-topics such as:
- Computer tools for farming
- Models of farming activity
- Scientific computing applied to crop management
-Expert systems in agriculture

This topic group is also about web technologies and networking of actors all along the value chain of agriculture. It includes sub-topics such as:
- On line farm services
- Web applications (clients, devices, server-side)
- Cloud computing applications
- Social Networking, collaborative tools and crowdsourcing
- Tools for e-agribusiness


See efita2019


Vegan diets could be adding to malnutrition in wealthy countries

Hidden hunger affects over two billion people, globally. The cause is a chronic lack of essential micronutrients in the diet, such as vitamins and minerals. The effects of these nutritional deficiencies may not be seen immediately, but the consequences can be severe. They include lower resistance to disease, mental impairment and even death.


A priest, a minister, and a rabbi want to see who’s best at his job

So they each go into the woods, find a bear, and attempt to convert it. Later they get together. The priest begins: “When I found the bear, I read to him from the Catechism and sprinkled him with holy water. Next week is his First Communion.”

“I found a bear by the stream,” says the minister, “and preached God’s holy word. The bear was so mesmerized that he let me baptize him.”

They both look down at the rabbi, who is lying on a gurney in a body cast. “Looking back,” he says, “maybe I shouldn’t have started with the circumcision.”


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Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
E-mail: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net


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