Innofarm
Smart farming technologies could have a huge potential for farms around the globe. These technologies provide the farm manager with spatially highly resolved information on crop health and crop needs, enabling the farm manager to tailor crop management measures better and to reduce negative environmental impacts. Yet, spatial and temporal resolution of this site-specific data is often targeted towards large-scale monoculture farms.
In this project, we want to reconcile innovative farming practices and networks to enable sustainable development of small-scale smart farming systems in Switzerland.
We combine new sensor technology such as high-resolution data on GHG fluxes and high resolution multi-spectral drone data to follow the crop development from leaf to landscape. Further investigations assess the socio-economic challenges a farmer might face during the adaptation process.
Aim
1. We want to demonstrate how combining new information and communication technologies can contribute towards the sustainable development of Swiss agriculture.
2. Identify new applications for UAVs in landscape wide plant monitoring for sustainable farming systems.
3. We further want to determine the costs and benefits of these technologies for the farmer and thus provide a decision-making basis for management and policy makers.
Partners
1. Crop Science Group of ETH Zürich https://kp.ethz.ch
2. Grassland Sciences Group of ETH Zürich https://gl.ethz.ch
3. Agricultural Economics and Policy Group of ETH Zürich https://aecp.ethz.ch
4. Farmer’s Association of the Canton of Solothurn external pagehttps://www.sobv.ch
Funding and support
SNF National Research Programme "Sustainable Economy: resource-friendly, future-oriented, innovative" (external pageNRP 73)
Output
external pagewww.innofarm-projekt.org
Article in Solothurner Zeitung by Benildis Bentolila "Feldversuch mit smarten Farmern: ETH testet neue Anbaumethoden im Niederamt", 17.3.2018 external pagehttps://www.solothurnerzeitung.ch/solothurn/niederamt/feldversuch-mit-smarten-farmern-eth-testet-neue-anbaumethoden-im-niederamt-132328827