AGRITECH

Ploughing the fields for the agriculture of tomorrow

Agriculture and breeding have always been among the most inventive of human activities. Today they are entering the era of digital and big data, to such an extent that the agricultural sector established itself a few years ago as one of the most innovative by adopting robotics; drones; monitoring and surveillance of crops; imaging; optimization of inputs; smart seed, water, and fertilizer management; and improving harvests and the quality of produce…

Driven by digitization and the evolution of technology-based solutions, the efficiency of agricultural practices has enabled farmers to adopt more profitable methods that have also been made more sustainable and less harmful to the environment.

Switzerland offers a particularly favorable framework to this wave of innovation, and nowhere more so than in the canton of Vaud, supported by the Confederation within the scope of its federal agricultural policies. This varied region is home to a number of farms, pilot enterprises, leading schools and research laboratories, as well as incubators and structures such as the Agroscope in Changins, dedicated to agricultural research, and the Agropôle at Molondin, which is a center designed specifically for farmers, inventors, and entrepreneurs looking to test out their solutions.

The constant dialogue between researchers, entrepreneurs, and cantonal and federal structures has created an environment that promotes the emergence of a host of different companies. These include Gamaya with its range of agricultural services based on hyperspectral images, Ecorobotix with its weed-killing robots, senseFly and its drones dedicated to high-precision cartographic analysis, and Lumartix, which has designed a plasma lamp for crops which faithfully reproduces the sunlight spectrum and even UV.