DLG-Agrifuture Concept Winner 2022 shortlist announced

For the first time, DLG will be awarding the 'DLG-Agrifuture Concept Winnner' whcih recognises achivements and future visions in agricultural technology. The digital awards ceremony will be taking place on February 15, 2022, with experts from DLG's technical committees overseeing the selection of five winners.

"The new award focuses on the technical possibilities in the next 5 to 10 years and explores the realistic chances of implementation," explained DLG in a press release from December 12, 2021.

Selection criteria for an award include innovative character and practical relevance of the concept, its transferability to other agricultural regions, a realistic chance of implementation and compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Further points may be awarded on climate and soil protection, water conservation, as well as plant protection and labour management.

Shortlist 2022:

• Automated Fruit Picking System, Kubota Germany: the concept is using harvesting machines, which use a combination of wired drones and solutions for logistics. Drones are equipped with wind compensation, ensuring safe and efficient opertation regardless of the weather. Able to reach almost every fruit and harvest without brusing, the drones detect and grade the individual fruit in real time. The benefits are fewer food waste and a yield increase of 20 percent.
  
  
• Bosch Off-Highway Vision System, Robert Bosch: In this system, the data generated by various cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors are formed on one display. Combining all of this equipment allows machine manufacturers to carry out rapid prototyping.
  
  
• Common Coverage Map for Wireless In-field Communication, AEF: For machine-to-machine communication, challenges still remain, including radio standards, transport layer protocols and secure communication methods. The Common Coverage Map represents an extension of today's 'section control', including a multi-machine solution in mixed fleets for cooperative fieldwork.
  
  
• Connected Protein, CNH Industrial Germany in cooperation with YARA: The Connect Protein concept enables everyone involved in the value chain - producers, traders, buyers - full transparency during the life cycle of the crops. Agronomic data through the cultivation steps are collected, and after harvest, a complete yield and quality report can be created.
  
  
• Controlled Row Farming, Amazonenwerke H. Dreyer in cooperation with AGRAVIS Raiffeisen and Schmotzer Hacktechnik: Controlled Row Farming is a new farming method in which every cultivation step is carried out in a fixed row. By cultivating crops in a fixed and uniform row spacing of 50cm with an offset of 25cm, yield is optimised. This also increases the value of the agricultural ecosystem by reducing water evaporation and erosion.
  
  
• H2-Agrar Project, AGCO Fendt: Alternative concepts for mobility present an opportunity to reduce our environmental impact. The H2-Agrar project aims to identify potential of hydrogen usage in agriculture. Solutions are underway, demonstrating not only decentralised hydrogen production and its use in agriculture can be profitable, but hydrogen-powered agriculture with a corresponding infrastructure can be integrated. Questions of mobility are answered through use of hydrogen-powered tractors.
  
  
• Hybrid Drivetrain Concept, CNH Industrial Germany - Steyr: Steyr's hybrid powertrain concept is based on hybrid electric transmission, designed for modern high-performance tractors. The aim is to increase the tractor's power density and load capacity.
  
  
• Integrated Drift Management, Bayer AG Crop Science Division: Integrated drift management is based on reading information on the spray drift tendency and buffer zones, as well as the distance control shown on the labels of pesticides. As the pesticide is poured into the sprayer, the information saved is turned into an application map. If necessary, drift-reducing spray nozzles are activated, automatically maintaining buffer zones and distance control. The system records all activities such as weather information.
  
  
• Agriculture Process Automation, AGCO Fendt: This project automates tractor and cultivation systems based on a machine learning approach derived from in-field data. This ensures the work requirements can be met and efficiency is increased, leading to the decrease of fuel conceptions and emissions.
  
  
• Spot farming, a joint development by Technische University Braunschweig, Johann Heinrich von Thunen Institute and Julius Kuhn Institute: 'Spot farming' places living and growth conditions of individual cultivated plants at the levels of the plant, field and countryside. This is in order to select optimal crops for respective site conditions, to improve spatial and temporal management, to increase the efficiency of agrochemicals and to strengthen functional structures in the agricultural landscape.
  
  

Agritechnica 2022 will not be taking place as scheduled. For more information on that click, HERE.

Image credit: DLG

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