CAPPA is delighted to announce that they are now a partner in the new SmartAgriHibs project. SmartAgriHubs is a €20 million EU project under the Horizon 2020 instrument, and brings together a consortium of well over 164 partner in the European agri – food sector. The project aims to realize the digitization of European agriculture by fostering an agricultural innovation ecosystem dedicated to excellence, sustainability and success.
SmartAgriHubs employs a multi – stakeholder approach and covers a broad value chain network across all EU member states. The consortium includes a diverse network of start – ups, SME’s business and service providers, technology experts and end – users. The end users form the core of the project and are the driving force behind digital transformation. The development and adoption of digital solutions are achieved by a tight ecosystem of 140 digital innovation hubs embedded within nine regional clusters, which are led by organisations that are closely involved in regional digitization initiatives and funds.
CAPPA is part of the Ireland and the UK regional cluster. The cluster acts as a one – stop shop for farmers, advisers, technology providers and agri – food companies who want to avail of technology solutions across Europe, to farming as well as business issues. It plays a central role in the digital transformation of the agriculture sector in Europe. However, despite the overwhelming interest of tech companies, investors and policymakers, the adoption rate of digital agriculture is still limited and the current impact of digitization, below its true potential. The SmartAgriHubs project involves digitization efforts in five agri – food sectors; Arable farming, livestock, vegetable, fruits and aquaculture. These sectors all play a vital role in both the EU’s economy and the diets of its citizens.
Photonics can, and does, provide a range of invaluable solutions to the agriculture industry. In the agriculture sector, they have experience in areas such as waste products, detection and identification, measurement, composition and analysis. For waste products, CAPPA can conduct analysis of effluents generated by the dairy industry for fat determination and NIR spectroscopic determination of Carbon, total Nitrogen, and Ammonium – N in manures. CAPPA can conduct detection and identification of bacteria and other micro – organisms, melamine detection, SERS detection of pesticides, and detection of the quality of ingredients. The centre can take measurements of fat, moisture, protein, lactose, casein, total solids and other important constituents. They also have the capabilities to analyse the composition of a wide variety of foods and beverages including fats, oils, powders, carotenoids, grains and cereals and analyse ingredients, process and final product samples.
CAPPA has previously worked with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on a variety of different projects. As an example, DAIRYDRY aims to develop the next generation of high protein spray dried powders with enhanced hydration properties. CAPPA have been involved in a variety of aquaculture projects investigating areas such as water purification, detection and monitoring of pathogens in water and the development of a real – time online multi – sensor monitoring device for the aquaculture industry. You can learn more about this project here.
If you are interested in learning more about the SmartAgriHubs and the funding opportunities available, you can contact CAPPA here.