Category Archives: News

Agroptima presents its new multiuser functionality in Eurofruit

Posted on by

This new functionality meets the need of having different access levels in the application, according to the different jobs carried out on an agricultural farm.

Agroptima, the mobile application that keeps a Field Notebook and manages agricultural farms from a mobile phone or tablet, is having evident success among professional farmers and, less than two years after the company was founded,  has reached more than 1,000 customers in Spain, as well as the management of more than 300,000 hectares.

The new functionality presented by Agroptima in Eurofruit – Feria de Agraria de Sant Miquel de Lleida is a Multiuser Module. Thanks to this new functionality, farmers are  able to create personalised access, restricted by Agroptima for their workers, and offering different access levels. 

The first access level available from June onwards is “Access only to the App”. This  allows the worker to have access to the App through their mail and password, to see and enter any work they have carried out. By doing so, the worker will not have access to the Website Account nor the Costs Module.

This launch meets the need to offer costumers the possibility of allowing their workers to enter their own activities using the same account, but restricts access to sensitive configuration or cost control data. All jobs carried out by the different users are received in the same account simultaneously, whereas access to private data can be restricted.

With this news, Agroptima offers a tool to farmers to keep agronomical and cost control of every single operation from the field, to have their data synchronised and updated from different profiles and, finally, to have access to their account from any location, maximizing their profits.

About Agroptima

Agroptima was founded in 2014 with the aim of turning agriculture into a more competitive activity, thanks to the simple access of technology and data collection.

Founded by farmers and engineers, its mission consists of providing a tool which allows farmers to control their farm in an easy and efficient way. Agroptima has had more than 60,000 downloads and 10 innovation awards, and has a team of 20 professionals dedicated to the agricultural sector.

Further information:
www.agroptima.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agroptima
Twitter: https://twitter.com/agroptima

 

Information provided by the exhibiting company.

Precision farming services in Eurofruit

Posted on by

Companies such as Agroptima, Isagri, MCSystems and ModpoW present the latest news from the sector in Lleida

 

For those professionals keen on visiting the Feria Agraria de Sant Miquel and the Salón Eurofruit will find a wide range of services related to precision farming with parallel meetings taking place from next September 28th until October 1st in the Fira de Lleida. Companies such as Agroptima, Isagri, MCSystems and ModpoW will present the latest news of the sector in Lleida

 

ModpoW will present the “ModpoW AgriTechnologies” application, the latest wireless data monitoring system based on sensor technology, which allows the control of  irrigation and fertilisation of trees, in order to optimise the productivity of crops. Through several suction probes, data is constantly collected, while the system facilitates its management and the development of process control programs to make critical decisions, such as the irrigation frequency and the proper input of fertilisers.

ModpoW, a start-up specialized in the development of wireless information and data monitoring systems, was created in 2010 by four electronic engineers at La Salle.

 

Agroptima, the mobile application to keep a Field Notebook and manage agricultural farms from a mobile phone or tablet, will present its new multiuser functionality in the Feria de Sant Miquel, which meets the needs of having different access levels to the application, according to the different roles carried out on a farm.

The first access level available from June on is “Access only to the App”. This permission allows the worker to have access to the App through their mail and password, as well as seeing and entering any works carried out. By doing so, the worker will not have access either to the Website Account nor Costs Module. All the works carried out by the different users are received in the same account at simultaneously, whereas access to private data can be restricted.

With this news, Agroptima offers  farmers a tool to keep agronomical and cost control of every single operation from the field, to have their data synchronised and updated from different profiles and, finally, to have access to their account from any location, maximizing their profits.

Agroptima was founded in 2014 with the aim of turning agriculture into a more competitive activity, thanks to simple access to data and software.  Founded by farmers and engineers, its mission consists of providing a tool which allows the farmer to control their farm in an easy and efficient way. Agroptima has had more than 60,000 downloads and 10 innovation awards, and has a team of 20 professionals dedicated to the agricultural sector.

 

Isagri, a pioneering company in international computing solutions for the management of agricultural, stock, viniculture and viticulture farms, has developed a piece of software not just to manage both costs and sources (equipments and workforce), but to carry out the technical tracking of the different crops, in order to ease the administrative and legal obligations, such as traceability and field notebooks, and to create advanced GPS guiding systems for agricultural vehicles.

Several applications, such as Geofolia, for agricultural farming management, allow the farmer to keep detailed cost management (focusing on plots and crops), having all the updated data available on their computer, smart phone or tablet.

Through 1,400 workers and 400 self-employed collaborators, Isagri serves more than 3,000 farms and agricultural, stock, viniculture and viticulture companies, generating an exhaustive data analysis which eases the optimisation of technical and financial sources. The company is present in 20 countries through its affiliated companies and distributors.

 

MCSystems will present a new system to monitor fodder levels and other products stocked in silos, as well as to program production flow and transport logistics. This device is based on a probe which emits a laser beam: its signal is sent to a server, which provides a warning. By doing this, it is possible to know when the new fodder order or production process should be made.

MCSystems was born with intention of offering a reliable and affordable solution to control and and prevent stock management problems in agriculture and livestock farms. Through these measuring systems in addition to monitoring and data management, a reliable data reading on the levels of the fodder stores, is obtained which eases stock management and optimisation of supply and replacement logistics.

 

Precision farming
Precision farming consists of the application of information and communication technologies to agriculture (known as agroTICs), which allow us to obtain data about the crops and their surroundings. This allows it to be processed and turned into useful information, both treating and storing all the data to help us make decisions. Having all this detailed information about the features of the crop and its conditions (land, weather, etc.) helps farmers and experienced technicians to base their management on a well-founded decision-making, in order to improve the cost effectiveness of the farms.

Since fields do not produce exactly the same results due to inherent differences, the aim of precision farming is to manage every plot taking this variability into account, not in a uniform but a specific way, paying attention to the different areas with similar features that can be defined.

 

Plant nurseries are consolidated in Eurofruit

Posted on by

The 32nd Eurofruit (Feria Profesional de Proveedores de la Industria Frutícola), which will take place from September the 28th to October the 1st 2017, together with the 63rd Feria Agraria de Sant Miquel (Salón Nacional de la Maquinaria Agrícola), will highlight plant nurseries, one of the most firmly established sectors in this great agricultural fair. Stone fruits, seeds and truffle production, as well as grafts and rootstocks, will be some of the sections offered by the nurseries.

The plant nurseries which have already confirmed their participation in the agricultural meeting in Lleida are Certiplant (Mollerussa), Inotruf (Sarrión, Teruel), Plantas de Navarra SA (Valtierra, Navarra), Plavise SAT (Alguaire), Serviplant Cataluña (Vinyols and Els Arcs) and Viveros Qualityplant SLU (Lleida).

Certiplant, a Grupo Nufri company, is a production leader in certified apple trees and pears saplings and has some of the best clones of each variety. It is also at the cutting edge in the variety breakthroughs in stone fruits. The company supports variety innovation and will promote varieties such as the Elliot or Harrow Sweet pears.

Serviplant Cataluña will display a wide range of plants from several woody agricultural species, such as the almond tree or the peach tree, showcasing some new and lesser known varieties from our country.

The company Plavise will take part in the fair, too, with its range of patterns (rootstocks) and certified apple trees and pears saplings. It will also display peach seeds.

Inotruf, one of the few companies of our country focused on the high quality mycorrhizal plant production, will show its catalogue of mycorrhizal saplings of black and summer truffles.

Viveros Qualityplant SLU will present the latest news on apples, peaches, apricots and nectarines seeds, as well as anti-hail meshes.

Plantas de Navarra SA is one of the world’s biggest plant nurseries of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and asparagus, as well as garlic seeds and fruit trees (peaches, nectarines and Saturn peaches). It is also a vegetable varieties breeder.

As for the geographical area of Catalonia, there are more than 200 companies which produce living plants nowadays. This Catalan production sector covers a 1,800 hectares crop area, with 1,600 hectares of outdoor cultivation and 200 hectares of greenhouses.

The companies in this sector are small or medium and mostly family owned. The size of the farms can vary from one hectare -in the case of the intensive crops of ornamental plants inside greenhouses- to more than 50 hectares in the case of outdoors trees and  production of bushes.

The production of living plants includes ornamental trees crops, as well as Christmas trees, ornamental bushes, conifers, cactus, aromatic plants, season plants, vivacious plants, shade plants, Mediterranean plants, crass plants, palm trees, forest plants, fruit trees and the reproduction vegetal material of the old productions (plant tissue culture, seed germination, rooting of cuttings and rootstocks).

 

Fruit trading companies take part in Eurofruit once again

Posted on by

The Catalan sweet fruit sector is one of the strongest and most competitive in the world, as well as being a pillar of the internationalization of Catalonia’s processed food industry. The country, which exports more than a 75% of its products to foreign markets, is the fourth largest producer of pears, peaches and nectarines and the eighth largest producer of apples in the world. Catalonia has a total of 50,000 hectares of fruit trees, which produced around 900,000 tonnes of fruit in 2016, especially in the case of apples, pears, peaches and nectarines. About 90% of the fruit is used as fresh  products, whereas 7% is used by the processed industry.

These days, fruit trading companies are of major importance in the agri-food sector, both because of all the work done towards the defence of these products and the optimisation their commercial processes and to improve their quality. These entities are well-known for encouraging innovation, environmental preservation and food safety (integrated production systems, which guarantees traceability of the product, from the field to its commercialisation), all beneficial to the consumer.

The major sweet fruit trading companies ActelGrup –from Lleida- and Fruits de Ponent –from Alcarràs-, together with the Asociación Empresarial de Fruta de Cataluña, called Afrucat, will take part once again in the Feria Agraria de Sant Miquel (Salón Nacional de la Maquinaria Agrícola) and Eurofruit (Feria Profesional de Proveedores de la Industria Frutícola), competitions that will be held on September the 28th and October the 1st 2017 at the Fira de Lleida.

Afrucat will take part in the Feria Agraria de Sant Miquel-Eurofruit with an interactive stand and a program of activities to promote Catalan fruits and their consumption. Afrucat is the primary association of organizers of producers in the country. It represents 32% of the Spanish stone fruits production and gathers almost 100% of the Organizaciones de Productores de Frutas y Hortalizas (OPFHs) of Catalonia. Their aim is to promote both the viability and the future of the Catalan fruit companies, as well as the inhabitants who depend on it; to favour information exchange, technological transparency and agricultural advice; to support innovation, internationalisation and geographical differentiation of the production; and to promote fruit consumption among society and the knowledge of market demand.

This year, the 25th anniversary of Fruits de Ponent will be celebrated during the Feria de Sant Miquel-Eurofruit. The focus of the Group at the fair will be on its members, to provide a space to exchange opinions and meet after the summer season.

The Group will continue promoting its commercial catalogue “La Buena Fruta, 365 días”, since new fruits have been added every single month of the year. As one of the leading stone fruit groups in Europe, Fruits de Ponent has more products than it used to, with pomegranates, kakis or even extra virgen olive oil, which is produced in the Molino de Alcanó. The Group commercializes around 60 million kilograms of fruit a year and has a clear aim of exporting, reaching 4 continents and more than 50 countries.

ActelGrup is a second-tier agricultural cooperative. The group is formed by several sections: Actel, which commercialises fruits; Ada, which commercialises grains, phytosanitary products, fertilisers, combustible and seeds; Agroles, which distributes oils, nuts, vinegars, pâté, cava, etc.; Central de Seguros, which is the main insurance brokerage company in the agricultural sector; and finally IberAlfa-TransAlfals, which is one of the major fodder cooperatives in the country.