Tepro obtains an European DIVA grant of 30.000€ to develop an irrigation decision support tool for olive groves.

Support for the internationalization of R&D&I

In collaboration with Evenor-Tech, Tepro develops the WATSAT tool, which combines Artificial Intelligence, modeling and earth observation technologies (satellites) to recommend the most appropriate irrigation and agricultural management options.

The tool, which helps to improve the sustainability and efficiency of farms, is intended to be useful for farmers and technical advisors as well as for environmental authorities (enforcement of the Water Directive).

The Sevillian company Teproin collaboration with the ICT company Evenor-Tech, has obtained a grant of 30,000 euros from the European DIVA project to finance the development of an innovative tool to support irrigation decision making in olive groves to improve the sustainability and efficiency of farms.

The tool, called WATSAT, is a Decision Support System (DSS) to recommend the most appropriate irrigation and agricultural management options through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), modeling and earth observation technologies (satellite imagery).

CTA (Technological Corporation of Andalusia) has advised and supported Tepro in obtaining this aid from the European DIVA project, which is an H2020 cascade funding initiative, i.e., a tool used by the European Union so that SMEs and small companies and entrepreneurs have the possibility of receiving European funding individually, without the need to participate directly in the large direct calls of the European Commission.

The head of Tepro’s R&D&I Department, Conchita Mira, explains that, thanks to CTA, “we have managed to advance in the development and implementation of tools such as WATSAT, necessary to bring agricultural production to the path of sustainability and efficiency, and to promote the access of small and medium-sized farmers to this type of tools”. Mira affirms that “the work of CTA is very important for the access to innovation grants for Andalusian SMEs”.

"CTA's work is very important for the access to innovation grants for Andalusian SMEs".

Concepción Mira

Head of Tepro's R&D Department

Amount achieved:

30.000€

Type of financing:

DIVA (H2020 cascade funding)

Irrigation recommendation according to crop, soil, climate and CAP rules.

The tool, tested during the project in three commercial olive groves, is intended to be useful for farmers and technical advisors as well as for environmental authorities (enforcement of the Water Directive).

The WATSAT tool is a "software as a service" designed to recommend the most suitable irrigation and farm management options taking into account CAP rules, climatic constraints and specific farm and crop conditions.

The methodology used, called NDVI-cws (NDVI-soil water content) takes into account different soil variables (such as bulk density), rainfall and irrigation, NDVI values, temperature and daily radiation. The tool incorporates both direct data (obtained from the study area) and indirect data (obtained from off-farm but critical sources such as climate data, Earth observation platforms and other databases). Through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in image processing, the volumetric amount of water in the soil is estimated, based on crop characteristics, location and management.

The project has been approached on the basis of co-creation, since the acceptance of the end users - farmers and technical advisors - has been taken into account. More than 20 farmers were consulted about their demands, needs, potential prices and possible barriers to implementing this technology.

DIVA, financing for the digitalization of the agricultural sector

The project led by Tepro is one of the 18 Andalusian initiatives subsidized by the European cascade financing project DIVA. In its three years of existence, DIVA has launched two calls for proposals, to which 396 projects have been submitted, of which 134 have been financed at the international level with 2.7 million euros. Of these, 36 were Spanish.

CTA is one of the 10 partners from 6 European countries that have participated in the European DIVA project, with a total budget of more than 4 million euros for three years, funded by the Horizon 2020 (H2020) program.

With the aim of boosting the digitization of the agri-food, environmental and forestry sectors, the main challenge of the DIVA project is to reduce the gap between ICT suppliers and the European agri-food industry. In addition to the calls for grants, DIVA has provided innovation support services, has created a network of experts to support SMEs and has mapped regional grants for technological development in Europe, among other actions.

DIVA, financing for the digitalization of the agricultural sector

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