The Agtech Innovation Bootcamp

In May last year, 25 AgTech founders, developers, government, and university leaders jumped on a bus and headed to the Riverland. They visited several farms in the region with the goal of gaining insight into the key problems faced by farmers, and to share and ultimately help each other to understand the possibilities for AgTech solutions.   

Key challenges identified during the trip were as follows: 

Picking approaches 

The Riverland region produces incredible citrus, stone fruit, almonds, and vegetables and is responsible for 50% of Australia’s wine grapes. All this fresh produce requires picking, either by hand or by mechanical/automatic harvesting systems, in a timely, affordable, and effective manner.  

How can we innovate the picking and harvesting process while minimising expenses and crop damage, and optimising gaps in labour and accommodation? 

Activating RIT vacated land 

The Riverland Region has a large amount of land sitting idle. The vacant blocks are included in the Renmark Irrigation Trust and are serviced with drainage and limited irrigation water, yet are still empty. 

How can we creatively and productively activate this vacated land in ways that increases biodiversity and/or the diversity of the Riverland’s horticulture industry? 

Access to data and digitisation 

Data and digitisation can provide agricultural insights that enable farmers to make well-informed decisions, resulting in improved yields, outcomes, and profits. However great these benefits, technology adoption faces challenges with; access to historic data, access to generational knowledge, data literacy, cost of devices, access to internet on farm and data sharing and interoperability between platforms.  

How do we make data more accessible, usable, and valuable to the farming community?