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Japan,United Kingdom : NEC and Dacom collaborate on precision farming solution to maximize yields and reduce costs [TendersInfo (India)](TendersInfo (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEC Corporation and Dacom, the agri-IT company (Holland-based industry-leading company), are today announcing the results of a "precision farming solution" trial in Romania that uses environmental sensors and big data analytics software to maximize yields at a reduced cost. By accurately measuring and responding to the variation in growing conditions within each field, the solution helps to minimize fertilizer, pesticide, water and fuel usage and costs while maximizing crop yields. The companies are now working to bring the Crop Decision Support System (DSS) to market, focusing initially on the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets. The solution provides farmers with accurate planting, fertilizer, irrigation, protection and harvesting guidance via a user-friendly application that uses data from in-field soil sensors and weather stations, combined with local weather forecasts and aggregated, regional multi-year agronomy datasets. The sensors automatically record soil moisture and temperature on a 24/7 basis. Wind speed, direction, temperature, humidity, rain and sunlight levels are also captured across the farm. This is supplemented by visual inspections and reports by the farmers on crop growth rates and signs of insects and disease. The real-time data from the sensors and weather stations is automatically collected via the mobile network and compared to growth, fertilizer, pesticide and water absorption models for the region to deliver advice on the ideal spraying time and dosage levels that reflect highly localized needs. This avoids the wastage that occurs when chemicals are applied too late or early in the crop or larvae growth cycle or are affected by wind drift or rainfall wash-off. The trials were carried out in Brasov one of the famous potato growing areas in Romania in this growing season. The research suggests farmers can reduce expenditure on chemical inputs by up to 40% per hectare compared to non-DSS benchmark farms. There is additional margin for improvement if farmers follow the guidance exactly rather than erring on the side of caution and applying additional doses. The solution is also expected to enhance the inherent quality of farm products, for example the protein level in maize or the symmetrical shape of the potatoes. Terabytes of crop production data need to be analysed and modelled on an ongoing basis over many years to maximize the success of precision farming solutions. In the next phase of the project, NEC will leverage its big data analytics capabilities to accelerate the complex process of assessing the Dacom's diverse data sets and search for hidden patterns. NEC is also looking at opportunities to create new crop yield data services to help support banks' farm investment decisions and enable food exchanges to have more accurate crop yield data in the future. (c) 2014 Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |