Internet of Potato

General objectives

It is no longer science fiction: satellites monitor potato cultivation, farming machines combine field treatment with crop monitoring, drones are used to monitor cultivation, weather stations are constructed in the fields, etc. All these instruments increase the potato cultivators’ possibilities to work their land in a sustainable manner. A similar technological evolution can be seen in the potato processing sector. In keeping with the ‘Industry 4.0’ trend, there is a focus on new sensors, automation and robot technology to increase process efficiency and capacity. All these high-tech applications generate lots of data, even further along the chain and finally to the consumer. Sharing (some of) this data with other parties involved in the potato processing food system, combined with intelligent data management, offers new possibilities for tackling certain problems. It can also result in win-win situations for the different parties in the chain as well as opportunities for reaching the consumer.

This project offers feasibility studies and demonstration projects about data sharing and intelligence. It is also open to the development of data technology so it can be fine-tuned to the needs of potato cultivation, trade and processing. The main focus is ensuring data streams and analyses are obtainable in a secure manner.

Expected results

• Discovering the opportunities of data sharing and management for the potato processing chain
• Flexible, efficiently networked potato processing food system
• Win-win situations at all system levels