Five competing teams will be selected in June, preferably of different nationalities. So far there was a lot of interest in precision agriculture in Korea, Japan and China.
Tencent’s WeChat app; a blend of Facebook, WhatsApp, a digital payment method and an Internet shop which is indispensable to hun- dreds of millions of users, particularly in China. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is the most recent addition to these diverse areas of interest, with Tencent – which has significant interests in Tesla – investing in research into self-driv- ing cars. And now in self-governing green- houses as well.
More diverse solutions Virtually fully-automatic cucumber cultivation in an autonomous greenhouse has to be feasible, according to Silke Hemming, who is pleased with the many positive responses to the competition since its announcement. Hemming is acting as project manager of the competition on behalf of WUR Green- house Horticulture. “Ten years ago, we put a greenhouse growing peppers under autono- mous control, when we were still operating in the test station in Naaldwijk. The way we did that – using the technology, and climate and
crop growth models that were available back then – makes me certain that it is possible nowadays.” Hemming is pleasantly surprised by the level of interest from companies. “When we select the
five teams that will actually take part in the competition, we would really like to see a range of different nationalities. A lot of interest has also been expressed in precision agriculture in Korea, Japan and China.”
Why cucumbers and not tomatoes?
It might be easier for computers, AI and al- gorithms to produce a successful crop with tomatoes rather than cucumbers, and toma- toes might appeal more to the imagination. “Well, yes, a tomato plant is much more ro- bust, no question about that. And a lot more research has been done, so an awful lot more knowledge is available. But, maybe, that wasn’t what we wanted,” says Silke Hemming from Wageningen University & Research. “The advantage of cucumbers is that the cultivation period is shorter, so it fits neatly into the length of a competition. And, the fact that the cultivation is so controlla- ble, and that the plants very quickly show
Camera eyes vs green fingers.
the results of actions that are taken, and therefore of anything that might go wrong, is what made us choose cucumbers.”
▶ FUTURE FARMING | 25 May 2018 37
PHOTO: GROENTEN & FRUIT
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