8 June 2020
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Measurement is knowledge, a wisdom that is applied in more and more sectors. Also in agriculture and horticulture it is impossible to imagine life without data collection and sensors play a major role in this. Yookr is a company from Venlo that deploys wireless sensors in the field and the greenhouse to collect data. Director John van Helden explains in an interview with Brightlands how it works and why it is so important right now.
Real time steering
Yookr specializes in mapping important climate and growth factors in the field and greenhouse. Using wireless sensors, they can measure a great deal: from air humidity, CO2 and temperature to growth light, soil moisture and fruit weight development. By linking these data intelligently together, an entrepreneur can respond quickly to changes in the field or greenhouse and adjust them in time. Not afterwards, but real time.
According to John van Helden, director of Yookr, sensors make a grower's life a lot easier. "With the use of sensors you can increase productivity, improve quality, better match supply and demand, reduce costs and save energy. You can not only monitor the past and present, but also use weather forecasts and set alarms. This helps the entrepreneur to gain more insight into his business processes. He gets to know his business even better this way."
Growing
The order book of the Venlo startup is well filled despite the crisis. According to John, this is due to the fact that food horticulture (with the exception of the companies that supply directly to restaurants) is also little affected by the crisis. "The sector just keeps on producing, because we simply have to eat every day. The consumer now eats out less often and cooks for himself more often. Our customers mainly supply the retail sector and they are doing well: the supermarkets' turnover is on average 25 percent higher than normal. Unfortunately, growers do not always reap the benefits. This is also an important spearhead for us: we want to use data to support the growers so that they get a fairer price for their products."
Green fingers
Yookr develops an optimal climate and growing process from the data. But data can also be used to preserve specific cultivation knowledge of a grower. Through the German-Dutch project 'Gärtners Grüner Daumen', the Venlo-based company is developing a system in which growers can keep track of data on use of crop protection, use of fertilizer and water consumption. "The grower learns from the system which decisions to take in his production process. In the second phase, the system uses artificial intelligence to suggest activities based on the grower's previous decisions. Thus, the grower's knowledge is digitized and the specific knowledge is preserved."
Health
John thinks that a topic like health is being pushed more by the crisis. "For example, I am now in talks with a grower of blueberries who wants to develop varieties with fewer salts in them. A grower will have to start listening more to the health wishes of the consumer and respond to that with his products. The soil in which we grow our products is also becoming increasingly important: what do the product and the soil need in order to develop optimally? We still know too little about this. With sensors and data we can make this measurable and insightful."
Bundling
The possibilities with sensors and data are endless according to John. "Not only do we bundle the data from sensors, but we can also create links between sensors, cameras, devices and processes, creating unique opportunities. For example, we are now working on a project to grow tropical crops in a Dutch greenhouse. By making all these links, we learn how the cultivation process works. If we can understand this process, we can grow the most delicious tropical fruits here as well. Data and sensors make it possible to grow in a high-quality manner anywhere in the world."
Community
Want to start collecting data yourself in your company? A online webinar will get you started. You can also join the Kiempunt Limburg group 'Digitization, Precision Agriculture and Big Data' where you can connect with other entrepreneurs about this topic.