Tel Aviv, Israel, August 14, 2024 — the Agrotech company Fermata, which specializes in detecting pests and diseases in plants using computer vision, announces a collaboration with the Israeli company agRE.tech, which operates in the field of agricultural robotics in the field of APV, with the aim of bringing for the first time an artificial intelligence-based solution for detection Diseases and their control in open fields. Fermata's Croptimus™ platform that performs real-time pest and disease monitoring will be integrated into agRE.tech's robots to produce a fully autonomous system for crop management and care.
According to the Collect Israel website, in 2022 the value of lost food in Israel was NIS 23.1 billion, and experts worldwide estimate that about 30 percent of the total global crops go down the drain as a result of plant diseases and pests. This fact leads to a significant increase in environmental pollution as a result of the use of pesticides and a severe damage to the ability to meet the growing global demand. Early, accurate and correct effective scanning and detection of plant pests require skilled personnel specially trained for this task, and its execution by humans who tire over time and may make mistakes, can cost the farmers a lot of crop loss and profits. The existing solutions allow growers to carry out automatic pest control, but not in a targeted manner, but with the spray and pray method which does not guarantee effective pest control and is not environmentally friendly.
The collaboration between Fermata and agRE.tech will allow farmers to perform an autonomous scan of their crops and exterminate the pests in the field in a targeted and spot-on manner. Fermata's artificial intelligence and computer vision capabilities pinpoint where pests are and send a real-time alert to the agRE.os field operating system and the farmer. The agRE.tech robot reaches the infected area detected by Fermata's system and sprays the focus of the problem, thus operating precisely and on time, eliminating manpower and significantly reducing the use of harmful chemical pesticides and expensive biological control systems.
The technology of agRE.tech makes use of solar installations located above the agricultural crops in a way that allows the continuation of agricultural activity, without usurping unnecessary space for energy sources. The integration with Fermata's Croptimus™ platform enables 24/7 monitoring and control of the plants to detect diseases and pests and prevent their spread, by showing the robotic system and the farmer where lesions are on the plant, long before the workers in the field could locate them. agRE.tech established the first grape vineyard in the world that integrates robotic capabilities and among its investors are the Tzemach Regional industries agricultural corporation and the French energy giant EDF. The company has a cooperation agreement with EDF for the wide commercial realization of the robotic capabilities in the APV areas that EDF promotes
"We are excited to partner with agRE.tech and support agricultural businesses. The company's model, which combines advanced robotics and solar energy, offers an action plan for sustainable agriculture that answers other challenges in the industry." says Valeria Kogan, CEO and founder of Fermata. "Dealing with a global shortage of working hands, climate change and food insecurity is a huge challenge, And agRE.tech's approach offers an integrated solution that uses robots that assist farmers in the most important operations. This collaboration not only reduces the use of pesticides that are harmful to the environment, but also increases the profitability of farmers by saving resources."
"Fermeta's Croptimus™ system impressed us greatly thanks to its advanced capabilities in managing and detecting plant diseases and pests. This solution ideally complements our unique robotic operating system," says Elad Levy, CEO and co-founder of agRE.Tech. "Our mission is to realize the potential of energy companies entering the agricultural areas, by leveraging the infrastructure for the use of artificial intelligence, robotics, solar panels and other advanced technologies to produce a new standard in agriculture. The global agricultural market faces many difficulties - chief among them a lack of manpower and high growing costs - we are working with the goal of producing sustainable technological solutions to address these challenges, which makes Fermata the perfect partner that can help us prevent diseases and pests in an optimal way."