FIAF 2024 in Portugal will celebrate celebrate progress and innovation in Agriculture

GOFAR: FIAF 2024 is the event dedicated to innovation for agriculture in Fundao (Portugal), and is now well established. Tell us more about this year edition!

Dr. Pedro Neto, Councilor of the Fundão City Council: The Fair will take place at Praça Amália Rodrigues, next to the Business Center and Services in Fundão, but also in the Experimental Farms of the Municipality, with approximately 40 carefully prepared hectares, where companies will be able to show – in real conditions – the most modern mechanisation and the entire range of products and services available for an economic activity that always aims to be more efficient.
Innovation, knowledge, technology, interactivity and demonstrations in a real context of the most advanced technology at the service of the agricultural sector, will once again be the ingredients to learn about the most modern practices in Portuguese agriculture.

The theme for October 11th is reserved for Blockchain (Traceability and valorization of the agri-food chain) and the Presentation of companies linked to the UPTEC ecosystem – Food In Tech, Livecrop, Wisecrop as the theme “Startup talking on Innovation in Agroindustry” companies + customers (presentation of customer testimonials on the use of technology).
On October 12, 2024, the theme is water sustainability in the agricultural sector – Innovation, Efficiency and Reuse/circularity with the presentation of projects and innovative technologies in the water sector, such as the SLECI system, Natural Systems wastewater treatment / Constructed Wetlands; Desalination greenhouse solar/ Solar Desalination Greenhouse, from Capitalization of Mediterranean projects maize germplasm for improving stress tolerance , Intelligent Irrigation System for Low-cost Autonomous Water Control in Small-scale Agriculture. In this debate you will participate entities such as Université de Pau in France, partners of Wismar University, of the University of Heliopolis – Cairo, Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST); ECOGOZO – Malta, INRA – National Research Institute Agrarian of Morocco.

The 12th is dedicated to the meat sector under the theme “MEAT the Future”, with the presentation of innovative technologies related to the livestock sector, namely related to animal georeferencing, virtual fences, intelligent mangoes, innovative equipment for the conservation and maturation of meat or Meat valorization through teaching how to cut, where entities participate such as the Limousine Meat Association, Tecmeat – Competence Center of Agro-food for the Meat Sector, Estación Tecnológica de la Carne - Institute
Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Métiers de la Viande – Paris, in addition to the main stakeholders of the meat sector in Portugal.

On October 13, the topics covered will be “Biotechnology in agriculture: main applications and new technologies” and the “Importance of Communication in the Agricultural Sector”. In addition to these conferences, other topics will also be discussed, such as Regenerative Agriculture, or Biological Agriculture, or autonomous driving; Systems of Automation in Agricultural Machines (ISOBUS, Driving assisted by GNSS, DPA and VRT in solid and liquid product distribution machines), Smart traps, among others in a series of lectures, round tables, panels of debate, throughout the days of the fair, crossing different perspectives on our agriculture, clarifying those most directly interested. The event will feature
great media coverage, being the ideal place to debate the main agricultural issues and to increase contacts and business.

GOFAR: You plan to have a nice robotics area to showcase autonomous solutions for farmers: why is it a key component for FIAF 2024?

Dr. Pedro Neto: The robotics area will operate in the Experimental Farms of the CENTRO AGROTECH from the Municipality of FUNdão. An area measuring approximately 20 hectares will be carefully prepared and available for testing equipment and machines. In this space, the companies will be able to show – in real conditions – the most modern solutions of mechanization and the entire range of products and services available for an activity economy that always aims to be more efficient. Although many still have the perception of a somewhat rudimentary and manual, the truth is that the sector has been developing profound changes, modernizing and increasingly using technology. We have already noticed that Precision/smart agriculture or 4.0 will revolutionize the Agricultural sector. A technology opens doors to more efficient cultivation with constant monitoring and allows to substantially increase the income of the rural world. In fact, the greater the amount of data collected, the more accurate the diagnosis of the variability present in operations. Artificial intelligence and robotics are revolutionizing the way we farm and we harvest our food, making agriculture more efficient and sustainable. In the last 10 years, agriculture has undergone an immense digital transformation, evolving from a rustic and manual setting to become highly technological and sophisticated. Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are ready to transform agriculture in unimaginable ways, opening up possibilities that have ravaged the sector for centuries. The resolution perspective can range from planting to to the rabbit through pest and disease management.

The future of agriculture is much more than just robots and algorithms. It's about how These technologies can be used to increase food production in a sustainable and efficient way. From production to consumption, there are many examples of this paradigm hift: precision agriculture, in which the farmer has in his tablet or cell phone the information to manage, for example, the water used in the soil and gives the “command order” from your device; the use of drones, which allow, for example, to collect information about trees, soil, pests; online stores; Facebook and Instagram pages, where consumers can monitor the evolution of work in the field and crops, among others. Today, there are doubts that our agriculture, only using technology, will be able to respond to an increase in demand for food, in less climate conditions, favorable conditions, and use of systems that use, for example, water resources from increasingly efficient and sustainable ways.

GOFAR: What robots will attendees discover at FIAF 2024?

Dr. Pedro Neto: At the Fundão Agricultural Innovation Fair, you will find exposed and being tested, equipment such as drones, smart implements, machines and tractors with self-guided and autonomous driving, fertilization robots, robotic milking, robotic sleeves, intelligent precision gardens, personal food computers, robots harvest, among others.

GOFAR: What is the market of such innovation in Portugal, and particularly in Fundao area?

Dr. Pedro Neto: We are the municipality with the largest production of cherries in Portugal, but in addition to cherries we also produce peaches, olives, vines and almonds. We are one of the biggest cheese producers in Portugal. The Agro-Industrial Sector in the municipality of Fundão currently represents one hundred million euros.The region Centro, where Fundão is located, represents 19% of the national economy. It is a very heterogeneous region. Almost 30% of the GVA of the agricultural, forestry and fishing sector comes from of this region. In the Central Region, fruit production is around 58.2 thousand tons occupying around 10 thousand ha. Fundão is the main production region of prunoideas, being responsible for 49% of national peach production and for around 70% of cherry production in the country. The main challenge is the population decline and the labor required for explorations.

To make the region more competitive, it is crucial to accelerate the adoption of technology in the agricultural sector. It is normal for farmers and producers to look with some distrust towards agriculture 4.0 and may even, eventually, assume some resistance initially. To adopt a new technology, Farmers need to have a clear and very objective perception of the advantages of this one. It is necessary to understand how it works in a real context.

The purpose of this event is to empower our producers and farmers with more knowledge and more innovation, so that they can transform this knowledge and add value information on your properties.

However, holding events and initiatives that bring farmers closer to Technology manufacturers will facilitate this processor adoption and help and enable the producer in the perception of added value in the adoption and incorporation of technology in farming . Live and on-site perception will greatly facilitate the mismatch of equipment on farms. Carrying out demonstrations and direct contact of manufacturers with farmers is essential. Therefore, the presentation of these equipment, our event is crucial for accelerating the process of technology adoption.

GOFAR: I've heard you plan to present some nice innovation at World FIRA 2025 next February in France, what are your expectation of a Fundao Pavilion?

Dr. Pedro Neto: FIRA is one of the largest events worldwide, dedicated to robotics and innovation applied to agriculture. The Fundão AGROTECH Center will be present at FIRA with a set of partners (between manufacturers, producers and researchers linked to production and construction of innovative technologies in the area of agricultural automation and robotics), which mark the state of the art of innovation in agricultural automation and robotics, in Portugal In addition to the presentations, we also intend to carry out demonstrations in an environment real, so that participants can observe in practice the potential of equipment that we will present and thus displaying the results technological technologies, and putting to the test in real agricultural conditions, the most recent.

This participation will allow us to highlight our position in this sector, giving get to know the work carried out by the various entities that currently collaborate with the AGROTECH Center, in a privileged location for this purpose.

For more information, you can access the Agricultural Innovation Fair website at https://feirainovacaoagricola.pt/