INSIGNIA Project
Promoted by the University of Córdoba, the CETEMET technology center, the companies Smart Fenix and Agroair Technology and the main irrigation association of Andalusia, Feragua, Badge is a innovation project what aims to create a common technological solution to the challenge of optimizing the management of the trinomial energy, water and fertilization. It is co-financed by the Government of Andalusia and the European Union through the Andalusian Rural Development Program 2014-2022 (EAFRD), within the framework of aid for the operation of operational groups of the European Innovation Association (AEI) in this area. of agricultural productivity and sustainability in the Agri-Food sector.
The specific objectives of the project are:
Carry out a holistic analysis of the fundamental variables that determine the use and evolution of agronomic, energy and water distribution systems
– Implement a digital and automatic monitoring system of all the variables necessary to make optimal use of water, energy and fertilizers in a community of irrigators
– Develop predictive models that allow simulating agronomic, energy and water distribution systems, as well as their interaction
– Develop an ICT tool to comprehensively address the digital, intelligent, sustainable and profitable management of a Community of Irrigators
– Disseminate the benefits of using an ICT tool for the comprehensive management of a pilot Irrigation Community
The reason for the project
After a process of ‘modernization’ of irrigation that has basically focused on improving infrastructure, the next challenge is improving efficiency through a comprehensive digital transformation of the management of water, energy and fertilization resources. But for it to be real and effective, it must go hand in hand with users and overcome the current technological atomization.
The digital transformation of irrigation today faces two fundamental challenges to become effective.
He first challenge es go hand in hand with the water userwhich are the vast majority of Irrigation Communities. To achieve this, it is essential that the technology be tested in the field, in real conditions, and training is provided to the people in charge of its use. In this sense, the incorporation of FERAGUA and the El Villar Irrigation Community (located in the municipality of Fuente Palmera, in Córdoba) represent a guarantee of the usefulness of the project.
He second straight is the generation of Interoperable Platforms that allow solving the problem of the atomization of partial digital solutions, which in many cases are closed, provide their own software and do not allow interoperability with other technologies, and in any case do not allow joint management of the system, which is not equivalent to the sum of the parts. What is needed is a vision of the whole and of the interactions that exist in a complex system, such as food production using water, nutrients and energy.
INSIGNIA’s proposal goes precisely in this double direction: that of providing a practical and truly useful application to users that provides a comprehensive and comprehensive response to the management of the trinomial water, energy and plant nutrients.
Innovation
The project is aimed at creating a new predictive product within precision agriculture. It will mean a substantial technological advance, which will improve traditional processes and increase the added value to current systems.
