The Smart Farm Colab (SFColab) is a non-profit Collaborative Laboratory based in Torres Vedras (Lisbon region, Portugal), founded by a consortium of private companies, Universities and Torres Vedras Municipality, aiming to boost the Digital Innovation in Agriculture.
Within the global Agro challenge of producing more with less by decreasing and optimizing the resources and decreasing the carbon footprint, SFColab targets applied research (TRL5-8) and technology transfer, aiming to develop sustainable production strategies and innovative techniques for the efficient use of resources such as soil, water and Ag-inputs, through the development of intelligent machines and real-time monitoring systems.
The SFColab's great mission focus over 3 agricultural sectors, namely the horticulture, fruticulture and wine sector. Driven to improve the product’s quality and food safety through a more sustainable management and actionable intelligence strategies, SFCOLAB provides technology and business services and an ecosystem building, scientifically supported, to better predict and manage the Agro-sector, and allowing a reliable transition in the digitalization in agriculture. Thus 6 main R&D activities were identified such as:
SMART USE: sustainable management of resources as soil, water, Ag-inputs, towards a neutral carbon and zero waste.
SMART EQUIPMENT: intelligent farm machinery to support soil preparation, seeding, crop management and harvest by using UAV and UGV for a more precise agriculture.
SMART CONTROL & MONITORING: develop multi-model data collection through remote sensing technology, merging and integration systems to support farm operations.
SMART PRODUCT: maximize the added product value in particular horticulture, fruticulture and viticulture through the use of biocontrol agents for crop management, improving the product shelf-life (harvest and post-harvest management decisions, packing and logistics), product tracking and certification origin.
SMART DECISION SYSTEM: revolution on platform cloud-based integrations with real time data and data analysis for easy and accurate farm decisions.
SMART SOCIO-TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: promotion of the cohesion and social inclusion and the agro-tourism in rural areas.