Growing Together
25 Years Experience in Digital Plant Cultivation
Agricon - leader in digital plant cultivation
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Agricon is a leading provider of solutions for digital plant cultivation in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 1997 we have been helping farmers use their machines, operating resources and work time more efficiently. As a result of this, the quality of plant cultivation decisions improves considerably.
Our experienced agricultural engineers and service technicians introduce digital plant cultivation technologies into agriculture and consult and provide support for enterprises in the implementation of modern plant cultivation strategies.
Addinionally, we develop established procedures together with practitioners further and explore new solution concepts.
Milestones in digital plant cultivation
Interview | Digital Plant Cultivation
Question: Mr. Leithold, what does the age of digital plant cultivation represent?
Peer Leithold: Digitalisation enables us to hear more, to see more and thereby to recognize, to know and understand more in plant cultivation. We can make decisions faster and exacter than earlier in the analogue world. We can manage bigger units in considerably higher quality and at the same time make sure each square meter is cultivated to the optimum. In a nutshell, the digitalisation of plant cultivation is further development of single precision farming solutions to a management system which is, in terms of plant cultivation, entirely and completely integrated in the enterprise.
What does the increaasing digitalisation mean for the farmers? What chances and also what challenges does it entail?
There are enormous chances for enterprises. The variety of new digital information makes the whole production and plant cultivation process on the fields transparent. Coupled with reasonable evaluation routines and intelligent rules, a manager gets objective correct information at the touch of a button - effectively, getting an insight from a bird's eye perspective up to the last curve of his enterprise. It is a totally new world!
It is a totally new world!
The benefit for a farmer: he can plan and use machines, labour and operating resources more exact. So that there is work time saving, decrease of management costs, a more efficient use of machine and operational resources, cost improvement and yield growth.
And the challenges?
Digitalisation interferes into the existing operation and decision processes and changes them. This requires openness from the manager and readiness to take new ways in plant cultivation. Moreover, it is vital that employees of the enterprise are involved in the process.
You say: Digital informtion provide more transparency. Farmers are afraid however, that the Big Data will make them completely exposed and insecure in the future. Do you share this concern?
In order to control the production process in a more intelligent way, it is not possible to avoid more transparenncy. In this sense, the enterprise is exposed, yes. But the crucial point is other than this: to whom belong the data? Who can see them? Who has access?
The general rule is that the client is the owner of the data, i.e. the farmer. Neither authorities, nor dealer or industrial enterprises can see the data without an explicit permission of the farmer. So the farmers should think thoroughly before making a decision which provider they will entrust with their data.
Plant cultivation consultants get
a great benefit from digital plant cultivation
If modern equipment and algorythms help make decisions, do we still need plant cultivation consultants?
DPlant cultivators get the most profit from the digitalisation of the plant cultivation. Now they are relieved from the routine work and can focus on particular specifics of their clients.
Both the quality and quickness of cunsultant's decision and the goal of enterprises which can get high quality consulting during the season improve considerably with digitalisation. Consultants will be able to take more responsibility for their advice in the future because they have more objective information available for their consultation. Even more direct (almost) decisions will be made from one recommendation, from one consultation.
In which classic agricultural machines segment do you see a bigger need for research in the future?
There is a need for research in almost all spheres. From the point of view of the digital plant cultivation, I wish most of all the two following things:
Firstly, further sensors which describe plant growth, the system of soil-plant-weather in real time and measure the nutritional requirements, deseases and pest infestation.
Secondly, a personal IP address for every machine and every equipment. So they are participants of the digital network of the enterprise and as such should be able to communicate with other participants.
Much more environment-friendly and efficiently
How will we run the agriculture in 50 years?
Much more environment-friendly and efficiently than today. The trends are already becoming apparent: the farming units are growing, with reducing personnel reources. Higher yields are achieved with considerably more efficient use of operating resources.
Just compare the process of car production in 1965 and 2015. 50 years ago there were countless numbers of people at the assembly belt. Today there are just few of them. The rest is taken over by intelligent systems. It will be exatly this way in the agriculture.
Source: agrarzeitung, 2015
Company History
2019
Market launch of the serial all-purpose terminal agriconTOUCH 1000
Start of sales activities in Austria
2018
Market launch of the YARA N-Sensor® ALS 2 in agricultural practice
Market launch of the sensor-supported fungicide application
Strategic partnership with Agrarius AG
2017
Agricon celebrates its 20th anniversary with the conference "Digitisation in Agriculture".
2016
Market launch of the job computer agriBOX for digital plant cultivation on machines and equipment of any kind
Complete integration of agriBOX into the ISOBUS world of Müller electronics
Start of sales in the Ukraine
Strategic partnership with Kverneland for further development of digital plant cultivation methods
2015
Enterprises in Germany and Europe manage over 1 million hectar in agriPORT
2014
Market launch of sensor-supported fungicide application
Market launch of P3-sensor family for site-specific plant protection
Extensive use of the first soil sampler on the go
Start of an accompanying market tests serie of site-specific fungicide application together with farmers and industrial partners in Europe
2013
Start of sales in Hungary, Romania and Serbia
Market launch of the web-based data portal agriPORT
Market launch of the sensor-based autumn evaluation in crops
2012
Market launch of a YARA N-Sensor® II into the practice
Market launch of the first agronomic ISOBUS device terminal
Market launch of sensor-supported autumn evaluation for rape
2011
Completion of the international precision farming competence center in the company's central offices in Saxony
Agritechnica: silver medal for P3-sensor for plant protection application
2010
Start of sales in the Baltic states
Delivery of the 500-th YARA N-Sensor®
2008
Start of sales in Poland
2007
Putting YARA N-Sensor® ALS into practice
Market launch of sensor-supported growth regulator application
Agritechnica: silver medal for Precision Farming Software "PF-Box"
2004
First attempts to apply growth regulator on the basis of sensor support
1999
Start of sales of YARA N-Sensor®
1998
First attempts to apply the YARA N-Sensor®
1997
Formation of the company