As consumers in many parts of the world are demanding a verifiable evidence of food traceability, actors across the agriculture sectors are looking for innovative solutions to build tools and mechanisms to reach greater transparency at all levels. At Hiphen, we believe that one way to potentially solve this challenge is by improving the link between farm and distribution with the help of IOT sensors.
As such, improving the link between farm and distribution can not only support the sector's objectives around food traceability, it can also support both sides in better negotiating contracts, better coordinating crop management, planning harvest logistics, and so on.
In France, a study conducted in 2017 by INRA and CLVC, showed that 97% of people interviewed request more information on the origin of the ingredients they are buying. In this context, one vision could be that - in the not so distant future - consumers could scan their product and see from which farm it comes from, when the crop has been sowed, harvested or transformed, if the plants suffered from any stresses during their development cycle, and how the farmer took care of them.
IOT sensors could play an important role in achieving this vision. The IOT Field Sensors™ co-developed by Bosch and Hiphen collect in almost real-time the type of data inputs that could inform such crop monitoring demands.
Over the past few years, Field Sensors™ have been installed and tested across various crops, projects and countries, collecting data on a daily basis about plant health. The daily images we collect from a single field are firstly used by the technicians to remotely monitor the development of the crop and take action in case a biotic or abiotic stress is detected for instance. Yet, their appications van go way beyond crop that example as, in some projects, IOT devices (which are loaded with sensors) are used to inform crop models aimed at managing fertilization and/or at improving yield prediction among other things.
The type of information collected and processed through the Field Sensors™ provide the level of transparency that not only help to improve the link between farm and distribution, but it also supports a vision in which this link could extend all the way to the consumer.
We would be delighted to tell you more about the amazing Bosch-Hiphen collaboration that led to the development of Field Sensors, and how these powerful devices could potentially support your business goals and field applications.
Please feel free to get in touch with us by email at contact@hiphen-plant.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
