Smart Technologies test station

The parties involved in setting up the new Smart Technologies test station are keen to gain deeper insights into digital production processes for agriculture in order to then implement such processes throughout Switzerland. Further details can be found in a press release issued by Agroscope, the Swiss center of excellence for agricultural research. Alongside Agroscope, partners of the new test station include both the cantons of Thurgau and Schaffhausen as well as the agricultural consulting center Agridea and cantonal farming associations.

One aim will be to seamlessly integrate the benefits offered by modern technologies such as drones and field robots in complex agricultural processes, with a view to realizing resource-saving, environmentally friendly, efficient food production for which management processes can be made easier. “With the help of innovative technologies, production can be made more sustainable”, explains Ueli Bleiker, Head of the Thurgau Agriculture Office, in the press release, adding that: “Our goal is to use these technologies together with production managers as part of a cross-cantonal network and to further develop them for broader practical application”.

For its first project, the new test station will be focusing on nitrogen fertilizers. In this context, digital technologies will be used to determine the fertilization need for the plants in question. Agroscope has already gained insights in this area together with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and the Swiss Future Farm Tänikon, which is based in Ettenhausen in the canton of Thurgau. The findings here led to nitrogen efficiency gains of 15 percent. “Cooperation with the cantons, the sector itself, practical application experts and the technology industry is the key to applying insights as quickly as possible”, comments Nadja El Benni, Head of the Competitiveness and System Assessment Research Department at Agroscope.