Start of collaboration with B.C. on data-driven horti

Added on 04 May 2023

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Start of collaboration with B.C. on data-driven horti

Last week Business unit Director Monique van Wordragen was on a trade mission in Vancouver, Canada, with President of the Executive Board of WUR, Sjoukje Heimovaara, programme manager AgroFoodRobotics Erik Pekkeriet and senior researcher Jim van Ruijven. The mission was led by Minister Schreinemacher of the Ministery of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and revolved around the future of agricultural and horticultural technology (Agtech). Just like in the Netherlands, horticulture in British Columbia, Canada, faces challenges in the areas of labour, sustainability/circularity, food waste, quality and earning capacity. Agtech can be part of the solution. That is why the focus of this mission was on automation, robotisation and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in horticulture.

BCCAI

One of the events during the trade mission was the co-creation of an innovation agenda for horticulture by Dutch and Canadian companies and research institutes. This event was organized by the B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation (BCCAI). BCCAI was established in 2022 and connects small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agritech sector with academic researchers, government and industry partners to develop technology solutions that build resilient supply chains and generate global solutions for food security and climate change. The Centre is therefor an excellent partner for the business unit Greenhouse Horticulture to establish a bilateral innovation programme, to which companies can hook on.