In 2021 we started working with pcfruit on the development of EVA. In our close collaboration we found each other as partners in innovation. Pcfruit in their forward-looking view on the agricultural sector and Kunlabora in our ongoing curiosity for new technological challenges.
Pcfruit is a testing centre in the fruit farming sector. In their mission to guide fruit farmers in the many challenges which running an agricultural company entails, they offer advice in the form of demonstrations, courses, publications, warnings and measurements. At the base of this lies an in-house research team, 58 ha of testing gardens and collaborations with universities, other research institutions, the industry and the fruit growing sector.
Through the years pcfruit has built rich datasets which are maintained on a daily basis. These datasets are uploaded by them in the application and are translated behind the scenes through build-in business rules and computations to functionalities to be used by the farmer.
This administration environment also gives pcfruit the opportunity to invite users to EVA and give them access to certain modules inside the application. The latter provides the flexibility to adjust the functionalities to the specific software needs of the company.
For the farmer, the heart of the application consists of administrative functionalities providing the opportunity to centralize the many activities of an agricultural undertaking by registering them for planning and follow-up purposes.
Figure x: Impression of EVA
The use of fertilizer, crop protection and chemical weed control products is subject to complicated regulations which are needed to protect our environment and public health.
In their advisory role pcfruit follows up on developments in these regulations daily and converts them into data used in the application. The complex datasets and legislative logic are transformed into a control screen with warnings, indicating if the activities of the company (almost) differ from what is legally allowed.
Not only public health but also the health of our useful insects get attention in EVA. For the impact meter we worked with the scientific data collected and researched by pcfruit. A visual indicator shows the harmful effect of a product on useful insects. We hope with this information to motivate the farmer to replace the more harmful product with less detrimental but still effective crop protection and chemical weed control.
Figure x: Impression of EVA
Farmers can visualize the position and boundaries of their plots by drawing them as polygons on a map.
Among other things these coordinates can be used in combination with the movements of a track & trace device by which we can automatically register the execution of a treatment. Additionally, this information can be enriched with the connection to a weather station to detect rainfall within a given interval after spraying. Based on this, the farmer may conclude the treatment may need to be repeated.
In later development the geospatial data will be extended with soil scans, soil maps, drone and satellite images. With this we lay the foundation for precision farming in which treatment plans can be made based on a more granular level of localized needs instead of the more traditional uniform treatment of large surfaces. A win-win situation: cost-effective for the farmer, better for the environment.
We are exploring new business value in providing APIs which pcfruit can provide as a means for the exchange of information between EVA and external parties. A first API supports this exchange with VCBT. In the application a company can request a measurement to predict the ideal harvest timing. VCBT sends their results back to EVA for the farmer to consult.