Applications call for BayWa Smart Farming Challenge 2020. BayWa is looking for innovative solutions that use new technologies, ideas, and products to support sustainable agriculture and horticulture.

As the global population continues to grow every year, so too does the demand for agricultural products. To continue feeding the world without damaging the environment is one of the greatest challenges faced by society, and can only be achieved by increasing the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production. BayWa invites submissions that look to tackle this challenge by combining satellite data with other data sources in an innovative and commercially viable way.

Focus Areas

BayWa particularly welcomes new ideas that combine satellite data and Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning. Furthermore, BayWa is looking for new ideas that support the following application fields:

• Pasture Management
• Early Crop Disease Identification in Agriculture and Horticulture
• Yield Prediction in Horticulture

Benefits 

Candidates might win the following things in the BayWa Smart Farming Challenge

• EUR 5,000
• Mentoring package from BayWa, FarmFacts, and Vista, including support with scientific and commercial expertise, developing a go-to-market strategy, and identifying sales channels.
• Access to BayWa sales platforms and customers through NEXT Farming as well as access to BayWa agri-business and agri-organization networks.
• Access to field trials in multiple countries (if eligible).
• Possibility to access EUR 10,000 worth of commercial datasets from the Copernicus Contributing Missions in the Copernicus Data Warehouse (financial support by EC).

Selection Criteria 

• Innovation: Does the solution demonstrate a new/novel approach to Smart Farming?
• Earth observation: Does the solution use Earth observation data to bring added-value to end-users?
• Technical Feasibility: Can the technical element of the solution be used in a commercial context?
• Commercial Viability: Does the solution have real market potential?

BayWa is a group with worldwide operations in the core competencies of trading, logistics and supplementary services in its three operating segments Agriculture, Energy and Building Materials and the Innovation & Digitalisation development segment.