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“What Cambridge inkjet companies are particularly good at is finding a niche and then scaling to grow the opportunity,” says Guy Newcombe, CEO of Archipelago Technology, which has found that its core Powerdrop technology has applications in industrial coatings, packaging and – unexpectedly – in agriculture.
The opportunity for technologies from other sectors to bring novel solutions to agriculture was one of the drivers for the establishment of Agri-TechE, an international membership organisation supporting innovation in the sector.
Agri-TechE Director Dr Belinda Clarke is talking as part of Cambridge Tech Week, running from 8-12 May, and she explains why agri-tech was a natural addition to deep-tech and med-tech as a strength of the region.
“The Cambridge cluster has grown by seeing unexpected synergies between different technologies and applications. Within agri-tech this can been seen in the use of the smartphone platform for monitoring, sensing and alerting, the application of earth observation and space-tech for guidance of autonomous vehicles and mapping of plant and soil health, and the emergence of AI and machine vision applications for precision application of fertiliser.
“Our philosophy is to get interested parties together and frame the challenges so that those unfamiliar with the industry can quickly understand both the opportunities for technology transfer but also the unique conditions under which it needs to operate. Slurry and gale-force winds don’t normally mix with sensitive electronics!”
For Archipelago the opportunity in agriculture came from a chance meeting in a local cycle club, between its co-founder and a former head of spraying at one of the top four agrochemical companies. Newcombe continues: “Crop spraying is currently the only practical method for applying pesticides and fertilisers in the field. Overspray is a huge problem, causing expensive loss of material and, potentially, environmental hazards. When our co-founder heard about this he wondered if our Powerdrop technology could offer a solution to this intractable problem.
“We have found that many industries need to apply a chemical at 20gm/m2 and our Powerdrop process achieves this with great precision – so why not use it to apply fertiliser and herbicide?”
Increasingly farmers are using drones and other technologies to plot fields and identify disease risk at a very early stage. This creates a map showing which plants are impacted. This enables either a tractor- or robot-mounted sprayer to locate the plant with great accuracy. Archipelago’s technology would then enable a jetted drop of coating material to be applied to the leaf surface and remain there, removing the risk of waste, drift or overspray.
Archipelago joined Agri-TechE to meet with farmers and better understand the requirements of the industry. Newcombe describes it as a worldwide club for those interested in agriculture.
Agri-TechE is gaining connections throughout the world by engaging with similar ecosystems; this creates opportunities for international expansion and scale, which is vital to bring down the cost of technology.
Diego Durantini, Inter-Disciplinary Manager at Agri-TechE, says the formula is working: “We have had farmers from as far afield as the American Midwest, Argentina and China coming to share their challenges and thinking with our farmer members. This collaborative approach helps to accelerate good practice, and everyone gains.”
Some ecosystems bring a shopping list of technologies for which they are they are looking; for one international visit scheduled for June this includes: enhanced AI, modelling and predictive analysis, diagnostics, innovative packaging, lab automation, synthetic bio, novel chemistries and technologies for tracking and tracing.
Dr Clarke concludes: “All of these technologies have been tried and tested on similar use-cases in other industries. What we are looking for is entrepreneurial thinkers that can see how they could be applied to agriculture.”
Cambridge Tech Week, 8-12 May 2023
CTW23 has 3 main components:
- CORE – a 3-day conference with content programming at the heart, with an on-site exhibition at Hinxton Hall and The Big Tech Debate at Cambridge Union Debating Chamber.
- CONNECT – a programme to host international delegates with a curated experience introducing delegates who are interested in collaborating with, investing in or relocating their business to the Cambridge area.
- CONVERSATIONS – an eclectic range of ‘fringe’ events organised by individuals, groups and organisations for a particular theme and interest group.
Agri-TechE is featured in the
Future Technologies session on Tuesday 9th May
Special Ingredient – Our networks Friday 12th May
See the full programme and more information about Cambridge Tech Week 2023 at cambridgetechweek.co.uk.
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