AI for Agriculture

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AIforAgriculture2020@gmail.com

NOT USE ANYMORE

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Contents

What are we doing now?

We are in Discovery phase of Design Thinking philosophy.

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Brief example of Discovery Phase

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Steps in the Discovery phase?

  1. Competitive Analysis
    • Planning and conducting consumer research at ‘early stage’ of the product’s lifecycle
    • Competitive Analysis using “Business Model” Canvas
  2. Define Problem Statment
    • What problem are we trying to solve?
    • How do we know this is a real problem?
    • Why is it important to solve?
    • Who are our users? What are their goals and motivations?
    • How will we know if we’ve solved the problem?
    • “How Might We” Questions
    • PROBLEM STATEMENT FORMAT 
        [The name of your proto-persona]
  needs a way to [user’s need]
  because [insight].
  We will know this to be true when we see [this quantitative / qualitative measure].
  3. Interview questioner
    • Prepare user interview questioner for our target group.
  4. Document user interview results
    • Document and submit user interview results and actionable product research findings.
  5. Craft personas
    • Craft personas and other “information radiators” (e.g. journey maps, Affinity mapping)
  6. POC Ideation
    • Craft “information radiators” (e.g. journey maps, Affinity mapping)

‘GREEN’, AI-Backed Home Gardens.

This prototype was designed after conducting several user interviews, for one of the competition.

«< Clickable Wireframe »>

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Farm Visits.

During our product research, we visited several farms in Germany and India.
We have collected useful insights by not only conducting farmer interviews but also participating in field activities together with farmers!

Below is the list of farms and data collected,

  1. Sahyadri farms, a ‘Unicorn’ Farmer-Producer-Company (FPC), Nashik India. April 2022
    • https://www.sahyadrifarms.com/

  1. Hydroponic farming, Anirit Urban Agrofood,Nashik India. April 2022
    • https://www.aniriturbanagro.com/
    • In this video ‘Anirit Urban Agrofood’ gave us a wonderful opportunity to visit their state-of-the-art hydroponic facility in Nashik India in April 2022.
    • ‘Anirit Urban Agrofood’ gave us a wonderful opportunity to visit their state-of-the-art hydroponic facility in Nashik India.
    • Their site manager explains to us the setup and working model of the hydroponic greenhouses.
    • AniritUrbanAgrofood!

    • Video Chapters:
      0:00 Hydroponic farming | Anirit Urban Agrofood | Nashik India
      0:59 Tomato clipping | Farm supervisor explains the clipping steps
      1:50 Nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic technique greenhouse
      3:30 Coco peat hydroponic technique greenhouse
      5:54 Coco peat bricks
      6:09 STRING TRELLIS clipping for plant support
      6:34 Leafy plants seed germination and Seedlings
      6:57 Square vs Circle pots?
      7:10 Make In India - Solar Insect Trap!
      9:18 Important chars for grading and processing unit.

    • Further reading,
      • https://hydropros.com/blogs/growers-corner/6-types-hydroponic-systems
      • https://hydroponicway.com/get-growing-with-coco-coir-611d316303e3
      • https://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/staking-and-training-perennials/
      • https://thisismygarden.com/2021/06/how-to-tie-up-tomato-plants/
      • https://bonnieplants.com/blogs/garden-fundamentals/string-trellis-for-tomatoes-variations
      • https://growfully.com/true-leaves/
      • https://whyfarmit.com/net-pots/#:~:text=Square%20net%20pots%20tend%20to,growing%20tray%20or%20hydroponic%20system.
      • https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/should-i-choose-a-round-or-square-pot-for-my-plants.71086/

  1. Organic family farm, Hollerhof, Hartmannsdorf-Reichenau Germany. June 2022
    • https://www.hollerhof-erzgebirge.de/
    • In this video we visited the “Hollerhof”, a beautiful small family managed organic farm in countryside of Hartmannsdorf-Reichenau Germany.
    • It was a refreshing and hands-on learning experience for me.
    • Both Tobias and Eva are wonderful hosts and their property is even more beautiful!
    • They have utilised their countryside property very neatly, allowing them to experiment with many different varieties of crops.
    • They have a portion of the farm for mixed vegetable beds, potatoes, strawberries and a small greenhouse for tomatoes.
    • I was able to help in removing weeds from the vegetable garden, by hand as well as using a few instruments.

    • I really enjoyed helping them in the clipping and pruning activity for tomato plants in a small greenhouse.

    • Part 1

    • Hollerhof!

    • Video Chapters:
      00:19 Tomato greenhouse
      00:51 Tomato Bamboo Stakes String Trellis
      01:50 Tomato Clipping with string
      03:45 Weed removed from open farm fields
      04:56 Floriculture, Peony Plant (Pfingstrosen)
      07:05 Jerusalem artichoke (Topinambur), grows to wield
      08:30 Coriander ready for harvest
      09:10 Zucchini 2 months old

    • Part 2

    • Hollerhof!

    • Video Chapters:
      00:30 Garlic farming experiment
      01:10 Cauliflower growing stages
      02:24 Kohlrabi
      03:21 Salads and Herbs
      06:16 The Spargel or Asparagus
      07:30 Strawberries and Mulching
      08:52 Fruits and Berries
      11:27 My sleeping arrangements!

    • Further reading,
      • https://www.milkwood.net/2014/12/07/string-climbing-tomatoes-two-methods/
      • https://www.justagric.com/how-to-string-up-tomatoes/
      • https://www.webgardner.com/vegetables/cauliflower-growing-stages/
      • https://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Kohlrabi
      • https://www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/mulch
      • https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/asparagus/grow-your-own

  1. Community Agriculture, Sonndorf, Germany. June 2022
    • In this type of Community Agriculture, farmers have members or subscribers, who are making monthly payments to farmers in return to get a box of produce from the farm.
    • Members do not necessarily have to contribute to the farming activity.
    • After discussion with the farmer we realize that he is really short of helping hand and would love to have members who will also take part in agricultural activity.
    • Sonndorf!
    • Video Chapters:
      00:36 Dairy Farming 15 to 20 cows
      01:26 Cow milking modern facilities
      02:17 Milk storage unit
      02:55 Small Polyhouse
      03:53 Heirloom Tomato
      04:38 T-Post String Trellis
      05:03 Paprika
      05:34 Brinjal
      06:33 Cabbage
      07:47 Mulching with Wool

  1. Community Agriculture, Passau, Germany. June 2022
    • Yet another Community Agriculture near Passau.
    • The farm is own by no one as farmer is passed away and have no one to take care of it. Hence community agriculture ia working out well here.
    • This community got roughly 80 members or subscribers, who are making monthly payments to organizer in return to get a box of produce from the farm.
    • passau!
    • Video Chapters:
      00:38 Weed removing by hand
      00:45 The Community Office | Members meet weekly to share produce.
      01:03 Glass Greenhouse | For all season produce.
      01:16 String Climbing | To support plants as per need.
      02:29 Mulching with grass clippings | Reduce watering and weeding
      02:43 Polyhouse | For summer produce only.

  1. Organic Wheat Farming, Amberg, Germany. July 2022
    • Visited this lush yellow beautyful farm early morning for ‘the action day’.
    • A planed day where community supports farmer in some farming activity. Inreturn farmers serve them nice home made breakfast.
    • He also uses this opportunity to advertise his organic produce and farm shop.
    • Amberg!
    • Video Chapters:
      0:00 Organic Wheat Farming | Amberg | Germany
      0:22 Remove extra long wheat grass
      0:54 Working on the wheat fields
      1:10 13 types of grains found in field
      1:57 Introducing the other parts of field

  1. ISKCON Temple Farm, Jandelsbrunn, Germany. July 2022
    • Visited this beautifully maintained temple garden.
    • We are able to connect to the gardener, who is maintaining the entire field by himself.
    • In video you will see he not only carefully arranges the farm field but also neatly kept the tools and workshop.
    • We feel blessed to have the opportunity to work at this holy place!
    • Jandelsbrunn!
    • Video Chapters:
      0:00 ISKCON Temple Farm | Jandelsbrunn | Germany
      0:30 Removing weed by hand tools of course
      0:43 Johannisbeere Plant Cleaning up the plant bed.
      0:56 Tulasi brindaban! Glass greenhouse for spatial care.
      1:30 Polyhouse For summer corps.
      2:03 Plant care Remove unwanted growth shoots etc.
      2:32 Mulching Paper Soil Moisture Retention and weed control
      2:42 Glass greenhouse For all season corps.
      3:02 Lotus
      4:21 Heating for Greenhouse Hot water flowing through the pipes
      4:39 Germination nursery For germinating healthy plants
      5:45 Sand beds To keep plants warm
      7:12 Farming tools Kept very clean and neat
      8:35 Net covers To keep bugs away without using any chemicals

  1. Community Agriculture, Uffenheim, Germany. July 2022
    • Visited this neatly organized Community Agriculture farming group in Uffenheim.
    • They got 6 polyhouses and few hecktors of open fields.
    • Participated in activities like weed removal and potato collection.
    • Uffenheim!
    • Video Chapters:
      0:00 Community Agriculture, Uffenheim, Germany
      0:43 All produce is organic
      0:54 Polyhouses Neatly planted for summer corps
      1:34 Eggplant Need support for standing up
      1:47 Mixed plant bed, they keep produce rotating every year
      2:29 Germination section For winter plants
      2:51 Playhouse heating Occasionally used in colds days in April
      3:37 Raised bed technique As a result less harm done to produces
      4:04 Here we collect potato’s by hand

Case Studies.

1. Image based crops readiness for Potato farm.

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  1. Asking the right questions
    • What
      • Potato crop readiness prediction
    • Why
      • manual resource heavy process
      • regular manual monitoring
      • unpredictable weather and raining conditions
      • leads less productive and to heavy losses
    • Who
      • farmer
      • farming firms
      • Agriculture Insurance companies
    • How
      • AI - Image processing
      • Smartphone based app
      • historic data
      • crop file cycle insights
      • proactive alerts
      • more productive with fewer resources and monitoring
  2. Persona
    • Proto persona: the farmer - Markus
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  3. Problem Statement
    • Markus needs a way to automate monitoring of crops readiness. Currently this is very manual process as he needs to visit farm every time.
    • We need to enable Markus to monitor his potato corps from remote location using his smartphone like device. He even empowered with timely insights and alerts for crop readiness.
  4. Research Based Method (research dataset)
    • Question for research script
      1. Potato farming in Germany, facts.
      2. How potato farming done today; organic / conventional?
      3. How to identify if crop is ready?
      4. How much loses happen due to “false crop readiness”?
      5. Why dose loses happen?
    • Matrix for research script
      • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jGs4262UO3w5ap20PXUQUEUvcYQCKtcRjfA_2YrRSO8/edit?usp=sharing

Vocabulary

References

2. Sensors for collecting data

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# Facts
Type of Measuers from Farm Sensors  
  Soil Temperature,
  Soil Moisture,
  Salinity level
  Conductivity
  Plant Temperature
  Plant Wetness
  Hydrogen,
  Plant Wetness,
  CO2,
  Photosynthesis
  Hydrogen level in Plant
  Air Temperature,
  Air Humidity,
  Wind Speed,

In progress…

3. Autonomous Greenhouse for Organic farming

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  1. Discovery
    • Horticulture
      • Horticulturists apply knowledge, skills, and technologies to grow intensively produced plants for human food and non-food uses and for personal or social needs.
    • Vertical-farming
      • vertical farming refers to the practice of producing fruits and vegetables vertically, in stacked layers, perhaps on many floors inside a building, using artificial lights instead of the sun, and a whole range of relatively new technologies.
      • The key technologies in vertical farming include:
        • perception technologies
        • artificial intelligence
        • automated and even autonomous mechatronics
    • What Is Precision Farming, And Who Are The Players To Watch?
      • Precision agriculture is a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated variability for improved resource use efficiency, productivity, quality, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production.
      • GPS tractor guidance helped farmers to improve crop production by reducing overlaps and gaps when planting, fertilizing, and protecting crops.
      • capabilities of precision agriculture as well,
        • Choosing suitable crops with higher yields and more lucrative markets
        • Measure the performance of the site by automatically capturing relevant data
        • Increasing the farm’s economic and environmental sustainability
        • Predicting climate changes and reacting to them proactively
      • Farmobile and its DataEngine that ingests and standardizes farming data so that it can be shared and used to create insights;
      • Trace Genomics that provides soil DNA sequencing services to farmers and agronomists; and
      • CiBo Technologies that allows farmers to create “virtual fields” with real-world inputs.
    • Is disparate agronomic data dead?
      • analyzing agricultural data,
          1. Pure agronomic data which includes the data related to the plants themselves
          1. Operational data. From spraying to harvesting, plowing to fertilizing, operational data includes information on materials, human resources, machinery, and more.
          1. Environmental data. This includes data regarding weather, soil, water, topography, and others that affect crop yield and quality, as well as management plans.
    • Horticulture LEDs
      • The spectral engineering wavelengths produced by LED lighting are playing an important role in enhancing plant growth and development.
      • That’s because plant physiology and morphology are strongly influenced by the wavelength optimization impacting a plant’s surface.
      • An optimal strategy for using high-quality LED lighting in horticulture would be to select the best spectra for a specific crop or cultivar, one that offers improved quality in the most energy-efficient way.
      • Photosynthetic responses are generally similar among the various types of plants
      • morphological response seems to be more species- and cultivar-specific
      • Red radiation is often considered the most efficient at driving photosynthesis based on the quantum yield.
      • Blue light, however, is essential for both the vegetative and flowering stages of plant growth.
      • we have found that red, then green, followed by blue light are most effective in photosynthesis, based on the quantum yield for CO2
    • Why AI will transform the greenhouse industry, Top 5 top reasons
      • The demand for food will continue to increase
      • The maturity level of technology is ready
      • Growers are ready
      • Big data creates great potential for personal and local solutions
      • Automation for utmost efficiency
  2. Competitive Analysis
    • grodan.com/
    • futurefarms.store/
    • plantix.net/en/
    • infarm.com
    • taranis.ag
    • traptic.com
  3. Define Problem
    • What problem are we trying to solve?
      • Losses in Organic farming using Greenhouse.
      • Manual Labour and time intensive tasks.
    • How do we know this is a real problem?
      • ?
    • Why is it important to solve?
      • We care for Organic produce
      • Greenhouse produce all the seasons
      • Organic farmers have lower yields (50 - 90% less)
      • The German Federal Government aims to increase organic farming to 20 percent by 2030.
    • Who are our users? What are their goals and motivations?
      • ?
    • How will we know if we’ve solved the problem?
      • Increased Production and yields.
      • “Autonomous Greenhouse”
    • Point-Of-View Template: User Need Insight
    • “How Might We” Questions
      • ?
  4. Interview questioner
  5. Document user interview results
  6. Craft personas
  7. POC Ideation

References,

4. AI backed Home Growing System

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  1. Competitive Analysis
    • AI Based
      • agrilution.com
      • mygardyn.com
      • backtotheroots.com
      • growgardenio.com
      • lettucegrow.com
      • plantui.com
    • Non AI BASED
      • urbankisaan.com/homekits
    • Home garden DIY kits
      • https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-indoor-garden-kits.html
    • Gardening Apps
      • https://www.countryliving.com/gardening/g32392629/gardening-apps/
  2. Define Problem Statement
  3. Interview questioner
  4. Document user interview results
  5. Craft personas
  6. POC Ideation

References,

5. Vertical Farming, William Cheng

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  1. Competitive Analysis / User Research
    • The Definition of Vertical Farming and its history
      1. Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.
      2. Vertical farming often but not always uses technology to aid the growing process, for example, common elements include:
        • humidity control
        • temperature control
        • artificial lighting (mixes of artificial and natural light can be used)
        • control/monitoring of nutrients and fertilizer
      3. The modern concept “vertical farming” was popularized in the 1990’s by Dickson Despommier, a professor of ecology at Columbia University in NYC.

      4. Today in 2020, There are over 100 commercial vertical farming companies that have raised venture capital and are actually growing food that you have likely already purchased at the grocery store!

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    • Pros and Cons
      1. Pros:
        • Reduction of food miles
      2. Cons:
        • Extreme cost to operate from a financial perspective: According to IDTechEx, the power and labour costs.
        • Vertical farming companies face a difficult decision between the extremely high start-up costs of a highly automated facility to reduce labour costs and improve efficiency, versus a cheaper facility with less automation and higher labour costs.
        • The report states that very few vertical farming companies currently operate profitably.
        • If investor enthusiasm dies down, companies that are not operating efficiently could suffer.

      3. Extreme cost to operate from a resource perspective (energy): Vertical farming uses a lot of electricity. This not only makes vertical farming expensive but also presents issues with sustainability, with the energy used in the process far outweighing the benefits of reduced transport through local production.

      4. ps: key question: how much energy does a vertical farm need? The required amount of water and CO2 can be reduced compared to a ‘traditional’ greenhouse, but this is not the case for the cooling and dehumidification demand. The high internal heat load and the lack of natural ventilation ensure a high cooling demand, which consequently results in the residual heat

      5. Re-use residual heat: Graamans says the question is whether this residual heat could be used in the surrounding urban environment. “One of the key features of vertical farming is that it can take place in the city, which would allow it to exchange energy with other users. Those other users could become customers of the residual heat from the vertical farm.”

      6. Mostly limited to leafy greens and herbs: high value crops that are easy to grow and where most of the mass of the crop can be eaten.

      7. The PROBLEM is not just about FOOD PRODUCTION, but also about the costs for water, energy and CO2.

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    • Pontential keys to the success of the industry
      • Growing methods
      • LEDs and lighting (Improved resource-use efficiency)
      • Environmental controls: Plant condition issues like: CO2, Nutrients, Climate
      • Sensors
      • Automation (Robotics)
      • Container farming
      • Food safety / HACCP
    • Vertical farming often but not always uses technology to aid the growing process, for example common elements include:
      • humidity control
      • temperature control
      • artificial lighting (mixes of artificial and natural light can be used)
      • control / monitoring of nutrients and fertilizer
    • Top 3 Reasons Why Vertical Farms Fail
      1. They try to do too many things at once. “Farmers can either grow food or develop technology, but they shouldn’t do both”
      2. They forget that labor is always the biggest cost.
      3. They don’t treat the farm like a process.
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    • The 4 Factors of Vertical Farm Success
      • Factor #1: Space-use efficiency and productivity
      • Factor #2: Labor Costs
      • Factor #3: Profitability
      • Factor #4: Environment and Plant Health
    • Current examples of crops and business models
      • High Value: Low Volume - herbs and micro-greens
      • High volume - Close to Customer: leafy greens and salads
      • Plant Breeding: seed crops
      • Medicinal/ Plantceuticals/Biofactories
    • What are the costs involved?
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  2. Define Problem Statement
    • Empowered ModernFarmer with AI so that they take Organic produce using Vertical farming methods, because low yield in Organic produce.
  3. Interview questioner
  4. Document user interview results
  5. Craft personas
  6. POC Ideation

References,

6. Farm data collection for insurance claim

First idea drasft using using “Business Model” Canvas.

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Top competitors:

Resources:

6. Research Subject, Volunteer Name

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General Competitive Analysis

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List of organizations that we studied. These firms used AI in one way or other to improve Agriculture.

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# Who Keywords / Core business / Uniqueness
1 https://www.cropin.com - Crop reports & insights – easy reporting on-the-go
- Geo tagging for accountability
- Real time Visibility of Farm Activities
- Remote Activity Monitoring
- Field Archive
- Crop Stage Management
- Yield Health Advisory
- Mobile data capture & assimilation

- FARMING COMPANIES
- SEED PRODUCTION COMPANIES
- AGRI INPUT SALES
- LENDING COMPANIES
- INSURANCE COMPANIES
- GOVERNMENT & ADVISORIES
- Agriculture Apps

- smartphone based app
- end 2 end solution
2 https://www.intellolabs.com/ - Agricultural Product Grading
- Alerts on Crop Infestation

- Intello Track
Mobile App for checking quality across the supply chain
User captures images via mobile app
- Intello Sort
Machines segregate produce based on colour , size and visual defects
- Intello Deep
Inspects intrinsic quality parameters
3 http://www.gramophone.in/ genuine crop protection,
crop nutrition,
seeds,
implements and
agri hardware at their doorstep

INPUT PLANNING
SUPPORT & ADVISORY
QUALITY
AVAILABILITY
CONVENIENCE
COST EFFECTIVE
4 http://jivabhumi.com/ supply chain

YOU – SHOP YOUR GROCERIES ONLINE
WE – PROCURE FROM LOCAL FARMERS
WE – SHIP SUPPLIES TO HOME/PICK-UP POINTS
YOU – COLLECT SUPPLIES AT HOME/PICK-UP POINTS
5 https://plantix.net/en/ WhatsApp based assistance
Berlin based startuo focusing on Agro India

send pic on whatsapp and get assiastance
App for crop image and diagnose
fertilizer calc
best farming tips
weekly action plan based on your crop condition.

Resourceful library : https://plantix.net/en/library/plant-diseases
Real community messages: https://plantix.net/community/en
Blogs: https://plantix.net/en/blog?page=3
6 https://www.cropdiagnosis.com Describe your cultivation,
Answer a few questions
Select the best product,
Get application instructions

Pest Recognition
Product Recommendation
Application Instructions
7 https://tracegenomics.com/ turn your soil samples into meaningful insights
digitize the living soil
soil DNA
decode the soil data

combine your soil biological data with your soil chemical data and surface tailored insights to help you take action
enable data-driven, evidence-based recommendations
8 https://www.vineview.com crop diagnostics for vineyards

Drone / satellite image processing
Drones and Computer Vision for Crop Analysis
9 http://farmshots.com/ Mobile Compatible
Precise, Frequent Imagery
Real, Meaningful Analysis

FarmShots is an integrated application with scouting, variable rate, and record keeping functionalities
10 https://www.anolytics.ai AI in Agriculture with Semantic Segmentation and Polygons
generates training data sets for AI and machine learning in agriculture and farming

Robots in Precise Farming
Fructify Level Detection
Detect Unwanted Crops
3D Field Map Imagery
Crop Health Monitoring
Live Stock Management
11 https://www.infarm.com/ CLOUD FARMING
we grow everything in your neighbourhood
12 https://hummingbirdtech.com/ - remote sensing and artificial intelligence business.
- provides advanced crop analytics using proprietary Machine Learning algorithms applied to remote sensing captured imagery
- Actionable data within 24 hours
- gather imagery of arable fields from satellites, planes and UAVs and then analyse it
13 https://www.agricon.de/en/ - family run
- Precision farming
- agriPORT cloud-based software
- organise their operational processes fast, safe and independent from individual agricultural machinery and operating resources suppliers
- recommendations for action
- share their data with authorised
- Field and cultivation management
- Management of field geometry
- Planning of crop rotation and yield goals
- Base fertilization, soil sampling, nutrient distribution maps, fertilization planning, fertilization planning
14 https://climate.com/ - Digital Farming’s leading software platform
- collect, store, and visualize critical field data
- impact of your agronomic decisions on crop performance
- customized fertility and seeding plans

- Climate FieldView™
- Map your fields, Upload your historical data
- Use Yield Analysis, Utilize various data layers of your fields to uncover field insights
- Create manual seed and fertility scripts

- tutorial 101, 201, 301

Farming Facts of Germany

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# Facts
Can Germany‘s farmers feed the
country?		  
  half of the land in Germany is farmed.
  milk and meat, we export more than we import
  fruit and vegetables, imports are higher than exports
  Germany is the third largest importer of agricultural goods in the world - and also the third largest agricultural exporter.
  Germany is a net importer, i.e. we import more than we export.
   
What is farming‘s contribution to
energy supply?		  
  Biogas plants, biofuel plants and wood-fired
power plants turn these into heat, electricity and fuels.
  Biomass
is currently the most important renewable energy
source in Germany, accounting for 7.5 percent of primary
energy consumption in 2018.
   
Why are there fewer and fewer farms?  
  1950 Almost
every fifth member of the working population worked in
the farming sector
   
Who is in charge of the farms?  
  Nine out of ten farms are managed by the proprietors
themselves.
  ten percent of farms run as partnerships,
limited liability companies, cooperatives and
private limited companies
   
How many farmers still earn their
living mainly from farming?		  
  half of farmers still earn their living mainly from
farming.
  More than 50 percent of the individual farms –
52 percent in 2016 – are operated part-time,
  Fultime farmers market their own produce, such
as vegetables, cheese and sausages, in farm shops, offer
holidays on their farms, and generate renewable energy in
their own biogas plants
   
How much do farmers earn?  
  full-time farms generated an
annual profit of approximately 54,200 Euros
  SUPPORT FOR FARMERS IN THE FINANCIAL YEAR
2017/2018 (FULL-TIME FARMS)
→ Direct payments:
287 Euros per hectare
→ Other payments (e.g.
agri-environmental and
climate programmes):
124 Euros per hectare
→ Average:
34,391 Euros per farm
  Expressed simply, all farmers receive
a standard amount for each hectare they farm – irrespective
of what or how much they produce.
  Small and medium-
sized farms are provided with additional aid for the
first few hectares. Additional aid is also available for young
farmers.
  There is also compensation for farmers who farm
land in naturally disadvantaged areas.
   
Who works in the farming sector?  
  Most farms are run by families.
  approximately 940,000 people employed
in the farming sector
  The farming sector remains
a male domain:
   
What working methods do farmers
use?		  
  Nowadays a farmer can feed 139 people.
   
Which oppurtunities come along with
digital technologies in the farming
sector?		  
  Precision farming techniques
have been used in everyday life in agriculture for
more than two decades.
   
What does specialisation in farming
mean?		  
  Today, 87 percent
of farms have specialised in one area of production; for
instance, they may concentrate on arable farming or focus
on keeping one particular species of animal.
   
To what extent is farming dominated
by large farms?		  
  Even if there remain many smaller farms among the
275,400 in Germany, the average farm size continues to
rise.
  According to this view, large farms
stand for “industrial farming”, small farms for “traditional
farming” which is more concerned for the environment
and animal welfare.
   
What regulations must farms
comply with?		  
  No farmers are allowed to do just as they wish on their
farms.
  instance, since 2006, a ban on the
use of antibiotics as growth promoters has been in place
Organic Farming  
  The main idea behind organic
production is that of farming in harmony with nature
  It is not permitted to use
synthetically produced chemical pesticides in organic
farming.
  Mechanical systems (e.g. hoeing machines,
harrows) or arable techniques (crop rotation) are used
to keep plants healthy and reduce unwanted grasses or
weeds.
  On organic farms, livestock are kept in conditions
that are as in line with animal welfare requirements as
possible.
  Organic farmers have lower yields than their colleagues
in conventional farming. Yields for crops such as wheat or
potatoes, for example, are approximately 50 percent lower,
the milk yield from cows amounts to 90 percent of yields
at conventional farms.
  On the other hand, organic farmers
are able to charge higher prices for their products.
  The State Fund payments for organic farming amount
on average to 216 Euros per hectare (2017/18).
  The Federal Government
aims to increase organic farming to 20 percent by 2030.
  five pivotal lines of action:
1. designing a viable and coherent legislative
framework;
2. facilitating access to organic farming;
3. fully utilizing the demand potential and expanding
it further;
4. improving the productivity of organic farming
systems, and
5. rewarding environmental services adequately.
   
How many organic farmers are there?  
  In 2018 there were around 31,700 farms (approximately
12 percent of all farms)
  Together they farm 9.1 percent
of the agriculturally-used land – more than 1.5 million
hectares.
  Organic products now
account for approximately 5.3 percent of the total turnover
in the food sector
   

Source

Story Telling using Plant data

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Resources,

‘Agtech’ in German Startup ecosystem

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Resources,

Further Reading

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FAQs

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  1. How do we coordinate work?
    • We follow Agile way of working.
    • we use Jira board to create Epics, Stories and Subtasks.
    • Upon joining team, each Contributor will get access to our own Jira board.
  2. How does Contributor contribute?
    • Three simple steps to follow.

Checkout this video with process mention in detail.

Checkout this video with process mention in detail!

- One. Cerate a Subtask.
    - Each contributor creates its own subtask for the Story that he/she is working on.

- Two. Work using your own choice of toolsets.
    - The contributor then continues to research and development on the subtask using a choice of tools that he/she is comfortable with.

- Three. Submit final work to Git repository.  
    - The contributor then submits his/her research, findings, presentations, etc. to the Git repository.
    - For this we will follow the simplified [Gitflow](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/github/collaborating-with-issues-and-pull-requests/github-flow#following-the-github-flow), i.e.
        - The contributor creates own branch.
        - Upload work in the branch
        - We will review the branch (or pull request) together.
        - Merge it to the Master branch(the main branch from where work is visible in the project website).
  1. What exactly do we expect Contributors to produce?
    • We expect each contributor to produce a comprehensive research work for most of the points mention in the Discovery phase
    • i.e.
      • Competitive Analysis
      • Define Problem Statement
      • Interview questioner
      • Document user interview results
      • Craft personas
      • POC Ideation
    • Each individual may produce his/her own work on these topics which may or may not aligned with other contributors.
  2. Where dose Contributors research work get added to the project?
    • We create a separate space in the “Case Studies” section for each Contributor.
    • We will help Contributors to push their research work, that they have done on any given tool, to Github repository.
    • An example, HERE
  3. Example of end to end Discovery phase?
    • Sample vision of Discovery phase, applying Design Thinking Double Diamond Strategy is mention HERE
  4. How to create my branch from github.com website?
    • All details available HERE
  5. How flexible is the problem definition mentioned in case studies
    • The ‘problem definition’ mentioned is for reference only and not to be taken for granted.
    • Though one can use it as a starting point to start his research.