Digital technology supercluster invests in autonomous agri

"As our country moves toward net zero, all sectors of the economy understand we must all do our part to get there. For farmers and the agriculture sector, developing digital innovations can lead to greener, faster and more sustainable food production," said the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. "With the help of this investment, it's great to see Canadian innovators coming together with bold and innovative ideas that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create more green jobs and support sustainable futures for Canadian farmers and families from coast to coast to coast."

A collaboration between Terramera, Verge Ag, i-Opentech, Simon Fraser University and QuantoTech, this project will create a digital twin of a users' farm to support operational planning and decision-making. The platform will leverage new data sources to help farmers characterize their fields, crops, soil, and environmental factors and combine that with historical farm data to optimize planning, manage costs and maximize net returns.  

"Terramera is thrilled to provide our expertise in Computer Vision and Machine Learning to create the world's first interactive farm operations planning platform as part of this project. This is a vital step towards our goal of transforming how food is grown and the economics of agriculture," said Karn Manhas, Terramera Founder and CEO. "We're grateful for the Digital Technology Supercluster's work to support technology to make agriculture more sustainable and position Canada at the forefront of this revolution."

The effects of climate change and rapidly increasing operation costs of farms are threatening the livelihood of farmers, and the stability of our food supply chain. By transforming the way food is grown, Canadian farmers are taking a bold step towards boosting agricultural productivity, reducing crop loss, and combatting agricultural greenhouse gas emissions that make up 12% of Canada's total emissions.  

"Canadian farmers rely on cutting-edge science and research to sustainably grow their businesses. Scientific breakthroughs have led to new farming technologies and practices, provided farmers with better crop varieties, and helped protect crops and livestock from pests and diseases. This investment in new digital technologies and agri-food data analytics will help make our agricultural industry even stronger while protecting the environment and opening up new market opportunities for our agri-food businesses," said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Click here to read more.

Photo created by freepic.diller - www.freepik.com

Source: Ag News