Precision agriculture and wi-fi connections to save olive trees. This, in short, is the mission carried out by Italian food tech
startup called Elaisian, founded by three young entrepreneurs in
November last year.
“Thanks to an agronomic algorithm,” said Damiano Angelici, Elaisian
CEO, “we can give olive oil producers advice on what’s best to be done
and the ideal timing to do it: the end result is a reduction in costs
and an increase in production.”
How does it work? Some special devices are installed in a given olive
grove (each device, on average, covers 500 trees, approximately 2
hectares). The devices collect climatological data, rainfall, degree of
humidity, temperature, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, beta-carotene…
The data are transmitted via wi-fi to the web platform, which
develops an algorithm by cross-referencing the data transmitted with
those measured by agronomic studies, in collaboration with the
University of Perugia.
Growers have their own, individual access to the platform, where they
can get all necessary information in real time: advice on when and how
to take action, both in the day-to-day business and in emergencies,
where they are alerted via text message or email.
The platform can recognize possible issues, such as attacks by pathogens, nutritional deficiencies and plant stress.
“In this manner the status of olive groves is monitored in real time
and growers can fight plant disease and maximize efficiency, with a
consequent reduction in costs and increase in crops,” said Angelici.
“Thanks to the platform’s alert system, they can act fast and avoid, for
instance, the spreading of pathogens that could compromise production,
and they can nourish their trees so they yield their full potential.”
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