The fourth edition of VivaTech starts on Thursday, bringing together multiple actors from the digital world: big groups, start-ups, agents and consulting firms, … Throughout the three days there will be a series of conferences addressing a variety of key themes, including agriculture. AgTech, or AgriTech, can be defined as agriculture’s ability to make the best use of new technologies (digital, iOT, AI, data, …) in order to develop sustainable exploitation, from production chain to distribution, while ensuring the main problems are addressed. We’re not talking about technology as a means to an end, but rather with a view to helping agriculture adapt to current major issues, including the responsible use of resources, a respect for labelling promises (organic, sustainable, contents, …), traceability expectations, increased profitability, a better income for producers, …
For many years now I have been a fervent advocate for green growth (agriculture, energy, land) and blue growth (sea and coastal economy), as a means to incentivising our French and European branches in these sectors. This is why, via all my activities, I support the development of the green economy to encourage the growth and development of start-ups / scale-ups which provide solutions as well as innovative and meaningful services for society’s actors and consumers.
At Agriconomie, we’re connecting crop and livestock farmers to thousands of products on a specialised e-commerce website. Fertiliser, seeds, spare parts, … the aim is to allow farmers to buy easily, at lower prices, for fast, direct delivery to their farms.
At Connecting Food, we are creating a leader in food traceability. We have developed key partnerships with groups such as Danone or Coop Italia (the number 1 retailer in Italy) and using blockchain technology we offer traceability along the entire food chain for a variety of products, including milk and eggs. The process also allows us to offer a financial incentive to those farmers who choose to commit to this positive approach. Connecting Food will be at VivaTech, where they will be giving keynote speeches at the CEA stand on the 16th May, and at the IBM stand on the 17th May.
Green Data helps farmers integrate big data and AI technologies into their activities, using data algorithmic solutions. The complex agri-food sector is subject to countless cyclical uncertainties, and combining business expertise and intelligent data exploitation is a major opportunity. Green Data will be among the 47 selected start-ups at VivaTech, and you can find them on the Village by Crédit Agricole stand.
Miimosa’s crowdfunding platform offers a way to invest in agriculture and sustainable food projects. They are actively involved in the field, working towards agricultural transition.
Weenat provides farmers with easy-to-use mobile weather solutions! Farmers can base their decisions on information from the latest technological tools, allowing them to optimize their time and resources. Weenat will be among the 47 selected start-ups at VivaTech, and you can find them on the Village by Crédit Agricole stand.
VivaTech offers agriculture visibility, and a valuable platform, proving what I have believed for many years: that agriculture and technology go hand in hand
“There has never been so much technology at the agricultural fair,” exclaimed the former Secretary of State for the Digital Economy a few months ago. “Inventing new methods of production, harvesting, distribution, consumption, … It’s a huge bonus for our farmers, consumers, and indeed the planet”.
Here are some figures to give you an idea of the importance of AgTech:
- 227 million Euros invested in French AgTech and FoodTech start-ups, making France a leader in Europe with 2.6% of world investment in the sector (source: DigitalFoodLab)
- The connected agriculture market is expected to expand from 1.8 billion USD in 2018 to 4.3 billion USD by 2023, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.3% during the forecast period (source: Research and Markets).
And if you can’t make it to VivaTech, come and discuss the issues and technological innovations for tomorrow’s agriculture with the agri-food ecosystem in Paris on the 7th June. #LFDAY19 is organized by La Ferme Digitale. For information about the event go to lfday.fr
