According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one out of every four bites of food depends on bee pollination, and the US Geological Survey states that 75% of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables produced in the US are pollinated by bees. In Europe, around 84% of plant species and 76% of food production depend on pollination, while the direct value of honey produced in the EU is estimated at €140 million, and the value of insect pollination for European agriculture has been estimated to be approximately €20 billion per year, and €153 billion worldwide. As critical pollinators, the maintenance…
Author: Anthony James
Anthony James
With over 20 years experience in editorial management and content creation for a broad spectrum of market-leading B2B magazines and websites in the transport and technology sectors, Anthony has written news and features covering everything from airport security to autonomous vehicles, and stadium design to sustainable energy.
Duke Energy, one of the largest energy holding companies in the US, has entered into a partnership with SustainRNG, a developer of renewable natural gas (RNG) projects in the agriculture sector, to harness RNG on dairy farms. SustainRNG was formed to commercialise the first ever ‘parallel flow digester’ for manure management, an advanced methane generation technology under license from Trane Technologies. It will engineer, finance, construct and operate RNG sites in collaboration with dairy farmers, with an initial focus on those based in the south east of the country. By capturing and processing methane from farms into RNG, Duke Energy…
New Holland has launched a new mid-range combine: Dubbed the CH7.70, it features an innovative ‘Crossover Harvesting’ concept that the company claims brings together outstanding twin rotor separation technology with its proven and renowned conventional threshing technology to deliver substantial efficiency gains. Meanwhile, a highly fuel-efficient engine with patented HI-eSCR 2 technology for Stage V compliance ensures high productivity with extremely low operating costs, while operators also benefit from the superior comfort of the company’s Harvest Suite Deluxe cab. Crossover Harvesting However, it is the efficiency gains offered by the new Crossover approach that are most likely to interest potential…
Tel Aviv-based Taranis-Visual Ltd has succeeded in raising US$30 million in a series C round led by Vertex Growth, Asian conglomerate The Kuok Group (through its VC division K3 Ventures), and Japanese multinational Hitachi Group. The investors believe the Israeli agtech firm has a bright future ahead following its development of a system for analysing aerial imagery of crops to detect early signs of disease, insect infestation, nutrient deficiency, water damage, and other risk factors. Additional participants in the latest round, which takes Taranis’ total funding to date up to US$60 million, include Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, iAngels, Gal Yarden, the…
The venture capital arm of global chemical giant Evonik has chosen to invest in Chinese technology start-up SmartAHC, whose monitoring devices and AI software enable more intelligent and healthier pig farming. Other investors include BASF Venture Capital and Shenzhen SinoAgri E-Commerce. Evonik, which is headquartered in Essen, Germany, believes its investment will provide priceless insights into innovative farm technology in China, the world’s largest swine market. SmartAHC, which is based in Chengdu and Shanghai, says its monitoring devices in combination with software that uses AI and the Internet of Things help improve farm efficiency and animal welfare. Early detection of…
Malaysia-based Protenga, which farms black soldier fly insects to produce animal feed and fertiliser, has closed its latest round of seed investment, raising US$1.6 million with UK agtech company Roslin Technologies and the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore, SEEDS Capital. Originating from a garage project in Germany, the start-up has become a global pioneer in farming the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) to produce sustainable, low-carbon insect protein. Its flagship products (Hermet Protein, Hermet Oil, Hermet FertiFly Frass and the YumGrubs pet food line – pictured above) use a novel, scalable, insect-based bioconversion process that recaptures nutrients from organic side-streams…
Land O’Lakes Inc, one of the USA’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives with 150 million acres of productive cropland in its network and 2019 annual sales of US$14 billion, and Microsoft Corp are to work together to develop new innovations in agriculture and enhance the supply chain, expand sustainability practices for farmers and the food system, and close the rural broadband gap, following the recent signing of a multiyear strategic alliance between the pair. Initially, the companies will focus on developing a connected agtech platform, built on Microsoft Azure, which will bring together Land O’Lakes’ portfolio of innovative agtech tools, such as WinField United’s…
Robert Bosch Limited has entered into an agreement to work with University of Plymouth spinout company Fieldwork Robotics to accelerate the development of its novel robot technology to harvest soft fruit and vegetables. Bosch UK will collaborate with Fieldwork’s engineers to optimise the company’s soft robotic arms and develop software aimed at reducing their cost and increasing their speed, in preparation for full-scale production. The agreement between Fieldwork and Bosch is a significant step forward in the commercialisation of the technology, originally developed by Dr Martin Stoelen of the University of Plymouth. Fieldwork is currently focused on developing robots to harvest raspberries,…
Moscow-based Cognitive Pilot, a developer of AI systems for autonomous vehicles, and Sberbank-Telecom, a supplier of comprehensive telematics solutions and a vehicle telematics platform, have announced a partnership to create a new agtech solution for the Russian and international market. Called Cognitive Sber Agro Analyst (CSAA), the integrated platform will aggregate high-quality smart analytical data and monitor agricultural operations, such as the yields and state of crops, farm equipment modes, fuel consumption rates, and other statistics. According to a Global Market Insights Inc report, the precision farming market will triple in value from today’s US$4 billion to US$12 billion by…
The sustainable crop protection sector has been boosted in recent days with a new CEO appointment and the launch of a new technology that could result in a 50-80% rate reduction of traditional crop protection products. Crop Enhancement Inc, a supplier of sustainable plant-based crop-protection products that protect or enhance crop yields, named agtech veteran Jean Pougnier as CEO, on 17 June, 2020. Previously chief business officer, Pougnier takes over from Kevin Chen, PhD, who has begun a new role as an independent board director of the company. Pougnier’s appointment comes at a crucial time for the San Jose, California-based…
