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 Châtenay-Malabry (FR - 92290), March 30, 2020 EFITA newsletter / 923 - European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment To unsubscribe this newsletter, please contact me directely: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net if this link Unsubscribe does not work. Please note that I changed the presentation of the links that are embedded in the name of the web service. Since January 2012, Vitisphere.com, today a subsidiary of Isagri is distributing this efita newsletter. But it is not certain that Vitisphere.com will be able to continue its support to this newsletter. That is the reason why you should (as soon as possible) subscribe the relevant RSS feeds… Please look at the following link. The informatique-agricole.org site now offers you the possibility of subscribing the RSS feeds of its two newsletters. Statistics about the previous issue of the efita newsletter dated March 23, 2020 
To correspond with me (GW), please use this address: guy.waksman(a)laposte.net To subscribe the efita newsletter (please ask your friends and colleagues to test this link) Efita Newsletters subscription Weekly newsletters about ICT in Agriculture in English and French Both newsletters have around 14000 subscribers. >>> Last weekly EFITA Newsletters in English (created in 1999) Efita Newsletters >>> Last weekly AFIA Newsletters in French (created 20 years ago in 1997) Afia Newsletters 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.
How we saw the future yesterday?
Archives of our newsletters in French and English Voir Afia Voir Efita
There are more apps for farmers than ever before, but Southeast Asia’s smallholders aren’t biting, by Jack Ellis When it comes to niche tech solutions, farmers have more options today than at any time in the past. From marketplace apps that help them to buy supplies and sell their produce, to drones and sensors linked to their phones that help them keep their farms in check, there is an abundance of choice. This range of mobile solutions is often said to be transforming the business of agriculture – particularly for the smallholders who make up most of the industry in emerging markets, such as those in Southeast Asia. But are these farmers actually using these specialized technologies? See agfundernews.com Unfazed by Covid-19, Infarm arrives In Japan and In Canada Strictly speaking, vertical farming has been with us since the dawn of agriculture; it would be interesting to see wheat growing any way other than vertically. But the term, despite its ambiguity, is now recognized shorthand for vertically stacked farming, where layers of crops are grown on top of each other, and where conditions like light, temperature, water or nutrients are artificially controlled indoors to allow for year-round growing. See agfundernews.com Good old days (?????): The Road Home by Gregory Frank Harris
N.Drip Gravity Micro Irrigation (quite impressive – GW) Flood irrigation has used the same methodology for the past 5,000 years and still accounts for 85 percent of irrigated water. However, flooding wastes 70 percent of water, lowers yield, causes land and mineral waste, land depletion and water contamination. This is why farmers, governments and international organizations are actively seeking alternative solutions to flooding. Professor Uri Shani, Israel’s former Water Commissioner and one of the world’s top Water Experts with 40 years of experience with water and irrigation, has developed a ground- breaking Gravity Micro Irrigation System. The System utilizes existing infrastructure and gravitational force for energy, making irrigation efficient at no additional cost. This is the breakthrough that can significantly change the global water shortage. See ndrip.com SwarmFarm goes global with agricultural robots Robotics firm SwarmFarm is raising 6 million Australian dollars to upscale the company. After 8 years in Australia SwarmFarm is planning to go global. “We have built SwarmFarm to be a global company”, emphasises CEO Andrew Bate. See futurefarming.com
A farm’s climate potential What would a carbon and soil-positive system look like, and how could it be achieved? See futurefarming.com XAG resumes drone production XAG tries to fulfil the large purchasing orders of agricultural drones for the farming season. See futurefarming.com Agtech deals reached an all-time high in 2019 Venture capital investment in agtech startups totaled $2.8 billion across more than 300 deals. See futurefarming.com IntelinAir joins NVIDIA inception program The collaboration will further fuel IntelinAir’s ability to deliver meaningful crop intelligence to farmers. See futurefarming.com Good old days (?????): The Harvesters by Léon Augustin Lhermitte
Are drones replacing agriculture aviators? Bryan Sanders, President of HSE UAV, makes it simple: "The answer is no. Absolutely not." Instead, aviators should add drones to their fleet. See futurefarming.com Unfazed by Covid-19, Infarm arrives In Japan and In Canada Strictly speaking, vertical farming has been with us since the dawn of agriculture; it would be interesting to see wheat growing any way other than vertically. But the term, despite its ambiguity, is now recognized shorthand for vertically stacked farming, where layers of crops are grown on top of each other, and where conditions like light, temperature, water or nutrients are artificially controlled indoors to allow for year-round growing. See agfundernews.com
How Indian agritech can help address climate risks, by Hemendra Mathur Jeff Bezos committing $10 billion to fight climate change through his new Earth Fund could not have been timelier. Climate change is for real with multiple data points surfacing including increased occurrences of flood events, droughts and extreme temperatures. A recent report by Oliver Wyman estimates that losses to financial services firms alone will reach $1 trillion on account of climate-related risks. If you look at South Asia – India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh – there were 232 floods, 129 storms, 48 extreme temperature events and seven droughts in these four countries between 2000 and 2017, according to a report by SEEDS and CRED. See agfundernews.com/ Chinese agrifood startups raised $3.6bn in 2019 as economic headwinds intensified .../... Further upstream, smart agriculture startups – previously on the periphery – are now drawing big-name investors like Baidu Ventures, “who see farming as a new application for AI and robotics that aligns with the Chinese government’s food security priorities,” Ho says. The largest deal in the Farm Management Software, Sensing & IoT category was McFly, which raised $14 million to expand its remote sensing, big data, and AI tech to digitize farming in China. Drone company Skysys secured $10 million to develop data services. .../... See agfundernews.com Good old days (?????): Washerwomen at a Stream with Buildings beyond by Leon-Augustin Lhermitte
Sensoterra joins network provider to take its soil moisture probes to the world’s most parched farms See agfundernews.com
Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How. A crisis on this scale can reorder society in dramatic ways, for better or worse. Here are 34 big thinkers’ predictions for what’s to come. See politico.com Are You an Anti-Influencer? Some people have a knack for buying products that flop, supporting political candidates who lose and moving to neighborhoods that fail to thrive. See NYT “Do me a favor, speed it up, speed it up.” This is what U.S. President Donald Trump told the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference, recounting what he said to pharmaceutical executives about the progress toward a vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Anthony Fauci, the long-time leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been telling the president repeatedly that developing the vaccine will take at least a year and a half—the same message conveyed by pharmaceutical executives. Apparently, Trump thought that simply repeating his request would change the outcome. .../... A vaccine has to have a fundamental scientific basis. It has to be manufacturable. It has to be safe. This could take a year and a half—or much longer. Pharmaceutical executives have every incentive to get there quickly—they will be selling the vaccine after all—but thankfully, they also know that you can't break the laws of nature to get there. Maybe we should be happy. Three years ago, the president declared his skepticism of vaccines and tried to launch an antivaccine task force. Now he suddenly loves vaccines. But do us a favor, Mr. President. If you want something, start treating science and its principles with respect. See science.sciencemag.org/ Good old days (?????): Moissonneurs à Mont-Saint-Père
Coronavirus tracked: the latest figures as the pandemic spreads
Surgeon Henry Marsh: Covid-19 and the doctor’s dilemma See FT The turtle A turtle is crossing the road when he’s mugged by two snails. When the police show up, they ask him what happened. The shaken turtle replies, “I don’t know. It all happened so fast.” 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 Afia The archives of this newsletter See Afia About the EFITA mailing list You can use the efita moderated list (> 15000 subscribers) to announce any event / product / web site / joke (!) related to IT in agriculture, environment, food industry and rural areas. If you want to subscribe a friend, please fill in his form. If you do not wish to receive our messages, please fill in the following form... |
