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Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), August 10, 2020
EFITA newsletter / 946 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment
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A useful reminder after the drama in Beyrouth: fertilizers have
been the most efficient innovation to save human lives: Lifesaving
Innovations Comparing the number of deaths prevented by research and
discovery
Modern technology is a sustainability tool for every farmer
Where’s my jet pack?
This rhetorical question is an old joke, usually uttered to express
satiric dissatisfaction with how we’re not living in the future we
once imagined for ourselves.
See
globalfarmernetwork.org
Good
old days (?????): La Fille du Bucheron, par Léon Jean Basile Perrault
(1832-1908)
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2020 Ag Innovation Showcase
27 - 28 August – Virtually
Ag Innovation Showcase provides an intimate venue for industry leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs to form relationships and engage in substantive discussions that will enable innovative solutions coming to market for consumer, social, commercial, and environmental benefit. We invite speakers, sponsors, early-stage companies, and other stakeholders in food and agriculture innovation to network with each other to address today’s questions and develop tomorrow’s solutions for feeding the planet.
The 2020 Ag Innovation Showcase, a two-day virtual event, will explore the ‘how’ to make the shift in agriculture industry by supporting climate smart solutions for resilient and sustainable agricultural value chains. The Showcase will discuss “Call to Action.” This year 2020 AIS will create a living framework and a roadmap for continued dialogue over the next several years between parties whose interests are increasingly converging. As one of the world’s first major platforms to both identify and explore issues affecting agriculture and to present specific innovations in the field from emerging and established companies alike, the Ag Innovation Showcase is well positioned to develop such a framework starting in its 12th annual edition in August 2020.
See agfundernews.com
How did we the future yesterday??
See the incredible collection developed by Alain Fraval
AgFunder Impact Fund
The need to revolutionize our food system is becoming critical. From the significant production challenges presented by climate change, to the effects of over-farming and the degradation of soils from the overuse of fertilizers, to the continuing widespread deforestation. If these weren't bad enough, add the impact of changing consumer demands, and the stresses imposed by rising population growth, and you begin to get a sense of how urgent this is.
We are responding by launching a fund dedicated to the technologies that will drive sustainability across our food system.
See agfundernews.com
Why UK farmers are cashing in on the boom in rural staycations
Landowners turn to camping and cottage rentals to boost income after lockdown losses
See theguardian.com
Good old days (?????): The Little Goosegirl by Gustaf Theodor Wallén
(1860-1948)
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Virus hits autonomous operations at Hands Free Hectare
Wet weather and COVID-19 brought Hands Free Hectare’s autonomous operational plans to a halt this season. But the team has continued with its research, putting in place a new strategy to get going again later this year.
See futurefarming.com
Yield mapping: Advances in yield mapping tech
Over three decades of development have increased the accuracy of yield mapping technology.
See futurefarming.com
Asparagus harvesters: Autonomous asparagus harvesters minimise labour
The race is on to develop efficient, reliable and affordable autonomous asparagus harvesters.
See futurefarming.com
Good old days (?????): Le Printemps de la vie, by Luigi Bechi, Accademia ligustica di belle arti, Gênes (1864)
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Drone harvesting: Drone harvesting? Yes you can!
Drones are now used by farmers across the globe. But not for harvesting
crops, yet.
See
futurefarming.com
Combine harvesters: New step in harvesting capacity combines
John Deere released in-depth details its all new X9 combine harvester
series.
See
futurefarming.com
Autonomous vehicles: Autonomy project to make 10,000 combines self-driving
Russian companies EkoNiva and Cognitive Pilot aim to equip 10,000 combine
harvesters with autonomous driving systems in the coming three years.
See
futurefarming.com
Farming still has the poorest safety record of any occupation
Farm Safety Week 20-24 July 2020 aims to reduce the number of accidents which continue to give farming the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK & Ireland
See farming.co.uk
Microsoft and Land O’Lakes are tackling one of agtech's biggest challenges
There’s no shortage of tech tools to help farmers with everything from monitoring crop and pasture health to inventorying products and predicting the weather. But using those tools is all predicated on one very important thing: internet connectivity.
That’s why Microsoft and Land O’Lakes are teaming up to bring the rural US online.
“Broadband is a real problem. Eighteen to 40 million Americans don’t have connectivity. It’s difficult to get data from the middle of the farm,” Land O’Lakes chief technology officer Teddy Bekele tells AFN.
…/…
See agfundernews.com
UK pest sensor startup Spotta raises $1.2m seed funding
Given that the dimensions of this problem are financial as well as ecological, there are dozens of agtech startups seeking ways to mitigate it — ranging from pheromone developers, to pioneers of novel “sterile insect techniques,” to designers of bug-detecting robots or drones capable of prescribing a more judicious pest control.
Spotta is one such startup, based in Cambridge, UK. The team wants to enable a lighter use of insecticides by building networks of accurate real-time insect detectors. With its initial focus on low-power, portable, IoT sensors for bug spotting in the hospitality industry, the team has just secured $1.18 million in seed funding with plans to deploy similar sensors in agriculture and forestry as well.
../…
See agfundernews.com
Good
old days (?????): Gathering firewood by Henry James Johnstone (1835-1907)
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A mini guide to Latin American agrifoodtech in 2020 by Sofia Ramirez - AgFunder investment team
The year 2019 was a breakout year for Latin American agrifoodtech and 2020 is already shaping up to beat those records, in spite of the global pandemic.
See agfundernews.com
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Efita newsletter is sponsored by:
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Why precision agriculture is essential in combating climate change by Slava Mazai
.../...
Research suggests that technology should play a major role in making farming more sustainable, without sacrificing productivity or farmer’s incomes, and with precision agriculture being a large part of the solution. The World Economic Forum estimates that, if 15-25% of farms adopted precision agriculture, global yield could be increased by 10-15% by 2030, while greenhouse gas emissions and water use could be reduced by 10% and 20%, respectively.
.../...
See agfundernews.com
Goldie and her locks for today (Anyway, I have no sympathy for the bears - GW)
If you still don’t understand racism, remember SHE broke into THEIR home.
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From American to European Exceptionalism (Jul 22, 2020) by Stephen S. Roach
An overvalued US dollar is ripe for a sharp decline, owing to America’s rapidly worsening macroeconomic imbalances and a government that is abdicating all semblance of global – or even domestic – leadership. And the European Union's approval of a joint rescue fund is likely to accelerate the euro's rise.
Those are tough words to swallow for a hardcore Euroskeptic. Like many, I have long been critical of Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union as a dysfunctional currency area. Notwithstanding a strong political commitment to European unification as the antidote to a century of war and devastating bloodshed, there was always a critical leg missing from the EMU stool: fiscal union.
American exceptionalism has long been the icing on the cake for the Teflon-like US dollar. Those days are gone. As the world’s most unloved major currency, the euro may well be headed for an exceptional run of its own. Downward pressure on the dollar will only intensify as a result.
See project-syndicate.org
Good old days (?????): Gathering firewood by Henry James Johnstone (1835-1907)
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Excess deaths since country or city’s first 50 Covid-19 deaths (Last updated on August 7th, 17:19 UTC)… to measure the relative efficiency of our responses to the Covid-19 crisis, this criteria seems to be the most pertinent
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See The Economist
Good old days (?????): "Récolte des pommes de terre", par Jules Bastien-Lepage (1877)
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The Reports of the Death of Democracy Are Exaggerated, by Marian L. Tupy
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The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP), a research institution in Virginia, USA, evaluates the level of democracy in each country on a scale from -10, which denotes a tyranny like North Korea, and 10, which denotes a politically free society like the United Kingdom. Most countries fall somewhere in between those two extremes. In 2017, for example, the United States scored 8 and France 9.
According to the CSP’s research, the combined score of the world’s autocracies fell from 571 to 282 between 1989 and 2017. The combined score of the world’s democracies rose from 494 to 967. Similarly, the number of countries with positive scores rose from 58 to 120, while the number of countries with negative scores declined from 82 to 43. The picture is equally encouraging, once democracy scores are adjusted by population size. In 1989, less than half of humanity lived under some form of democracy. By 2017, two thirds of people on Earth enjoyed the benefits of some form of representative government.
None of the above denies the dangers of excessive populism. But the fortunes of democracy should be kept in a proper perspective. In terms of the number of countries that qualify as more-or-less democratic, the world had reached its peak in 2016. The quality of democracy, however, has risen steadily and has never been higher. All in all, it would be premature to write democracy’s obituary just yet.
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Good old days (?????): La Bergère by Rigway Knigt (1839-1924)
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Corona virus jokes
My wife had a letter from the government today advising her that she is at risk from Covid 19 because of an underlying condition.
Personally, I’m pretty sure she is safe since she’s been dead for three years.
Since quarantine I've not had a haircut. Hell, I've not even stepped on the scales.
So today I decided to weigh myself for the first time in months.
Who knew hair weighed so much?!
I got pulled over in the HOV lane (high-occupancy vehicle lane). And when the cop asked me where my passenger was, I told him that due to social distancing he was in the car behind me.
Good old days (?????): Les lieuses de gerbes par Léon Lhermitte (1844-1925)
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Contact: Guy WAKSMAN
E-mail: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net
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