Panama June 7, 2023. The National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research in Information and Communication Technologies (INDICATIC AIP) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) held the hybrid workshop "Smart Agriculture", with the purpose of exposing innovative experiences using intelligent physical and digital platforms.
"Reviewing the knowledge and experiences of projects developed in countries of the European Union and see the possibility of applying and adapting them to the reality of Panama is one of the primary objectives of this workshop. We also seek to cross and socialize the experiences with the presentations and the exchange of ideas focused on artificial intelligence and satellite image processing obtained in the panel of national and international experts," said Dr. Philippe Aniorte, director of INDICATIC AIP.
In the "Smart Agriculture" workshop, initiatives and knowledge were exchanged on the use of innovative tools such as field schools, satellite imaging and artificial intelligence in farms in France, Morocco, and Panama.
"These new digital technologies applied to the realities of small and medium farmers make it possible to enhance experiences and establish joint action with other latitudes for the benefit, scaling and amplification of Panamanian producers," said Dr. Gerardo Escudero, Director of IICA in Panama.
The central themes of the workshop were the use of a traceability system based on blockchain that determines auditability, transparency, and trust in the data. In addition, the use of artificial intelligence applied to irrigation systems, wine quality and monitoring with satellite information and environmental variables to send weather alerts to producers during the phenological development of crops and the theme teaching learning to producers through field schools to adapt the NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action) of rice and reduce unit production costs and thus lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The workshop started with the topic "Intelligent Irrigation System for low-cost autonomous water control in small-scale agriculture", where Dr. Congduc Pham, professor of computer science at the University of Pau (France) presented INTEL-IRRIS, a PRIMA project that addresses simple and low-cost solutions to improve irrigation efficiency in small-scale farms.
According to Dr. Pham, INTEL-IRRIS will provide smallholder farmers with more efficient management of available water by deploying an open, autonomous, and low-cost irrigation control system based on connected environments (IoT) and smart technologies.
Meanwhile, Dr. Luiz Angelo Steffenel, director of the LICIIS Lab and professor of computer science at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne addressed "Cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Champagne production: reinforcing quality from vineyard to bottle." The emphasis of the presentation was on demonstrating some contributions of the European AI4DI project and continuing within the IA Edge project.
"In the case of Champagne, quality control starts in the vineyards, where agricultural sensors and AI Edge algorithms can be used to monitor vineyard conditions, highlighting water stress in the plants or favorable conditions for diseases such as downy mildew and black rot. Similarly, AI models can help forecast yields, allowing for more rational use of materials, transportation, storage, and human resources," said Dr. Steffenel.
Meanwhile, the presentation entitled "Use of phenological metrics for spatial monitoring of agricultural areas" by Dr. Tarik Benabdelouahab, researcher and head of the environment and natural resources department at INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) focused on the monitored integration of the agricultural sector through phenological methods.
Dr. Benabdelouahab explained that the research approach incorporates temporal and spatial changes in phenological and growth stages, as by using these metrics, a comprehensive understanding of the agricultural sector can be obtained, allowing data-driven decisions to be made and improving the performance of agricultural systems.
Representing Panama, Dr. Gerardo Escudero presented the project "Blockchain and precision: Innovating with the producers of the rice chain in Panama" of IICA and the Inter-American Development Bank's innovation laboratory (BIDLAB) with the participation of the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt) and 16 partners, which contains the use of four technological platforms: Farmer Field Schools, Blokchain and Traceability, Use of satellite information and artificial intelligence and Climate Trade, a Market Place.
Dr. Guillermo Montilla, founding director of YTTRIUM-Technology Corp showed the utilities of the YTTRIUM platform that will generate alerts to one hundred rice producers with satellite information, climate information and artificial intelligence on the state of the production plots throughout their phenological cycle.
Dr. David Proenza, CEO of Urban Farms and Foodchain, presented the use of blockchain for rice traceability and the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System (MRV) of the data of each of the 100 producers on the Foodchain platform.
The workshop was aimed at technicians and researchers, decision-makers in the country's public policies, as well as bilateral and multilateral cooperation and financing agencies.
The workshop was attended by Dr. Philippe Aniorte, director of INDICATIC AIP; Dr. Gerardo Escudero, director of IICA Panama; Dr. Tomás Bermúdez, representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Lic. Congduc Pham, professor of computer science and international guest panelist; Dr. Tarik Benabdelouahab, researcher, and international speaker; Luiz Angelo Steffenel, professor of computer science and workshop leader; Dr. David Provenza, CEO of Urban Farms and Foodchain and Dr. Guillermo Montilla, founding director YTTRIUM-Technology Corp.
About INDICATIC AIP:
The National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research in Information and Communication Technologies AIP is a public interest association whose vision is to become a national and international center of excellence and a reference for the Latin American region in generating ICT technology.
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