Smart Farming

Modern agriculture is at a crucial turning point. Climate change, dwindling resources, increasing environmental pressure and a growing shortage of skilled workers are presenting farmers around the world with ever greater challenges. At the same time, expectations regarding productivity, environmental compatibility and transparency are rising along the entire agricultural value chain. This situation calls for innovative approaches – technologies that not only increase efficiency but also enable the sustainable and responsible management of our natural resources. This is precisely where the European cooperation project ‘The Future of Precision Agriculture – Machine Learning for Autonomous Decision Mechanisms’ comes in.

The project focuses on the issue of how modern technologies – in particular artificial intelligence (AI), drones and autonomous decision-making systems – can be integrated into agriculture in a meaningful and practical way. The aim is to use machine learning algorithms to analyse large amounts of data from fields, sensors, weather models and aerial photographs and to derive automated, precise recommendations for action for agricultural businesses.

The concept of the smart farming platform goes beyond mere data collection: it creates intelligent software solutions that not only recognise where action is needed – for example, in the case of pest infestation, fertilisation or irrigation – but also independently provide suggestions for the optimal measures to take. In the long term, these systems should even be able to make decisions completely autonomously – in a comprehensible, transparent and adaptable manner.

The project is being implemented in close cooperation with partner institutions in Germany, Turkey, Romania and Austria. The technologies developed are being tested and further developed in international field trials under real conditions. The technical part is supplemented by practical training courses that prepare farmers, agricultural engineers and students for working with the new systems.

Our overarching goal is to lay the foundations for forward-looking, resilient and sustainable agriculture – through the intelligent combination of technology, science and practice.