How did your participation in the Hackathon Agro come about?
When the first Hackathon took place last year I didn't even know about it, I was in Salto. For this second edition I signed up because the first winner -Lucía San Román- posted a link in the group of the Faculty of Agronomy on Facebook, I got curious and decided to participate.
You were part of the winning team with two other people, did you know each other?
No. The formation of the teams was random and was carried out by the organisation - made up of the Rural Association of Uruguay (ARU), the British Embassy, the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology and the da Vinci Foundation. I signed up for the area of agriculture, Carlos Capano signed up for the area of business and Agustín Ackerman for the area of technology. I am studying agronomy, Carlos is studying international business at the Catholic University and Agustín is working in the IT area, he is a programmer and analyst. None of them were linked to agriculture.
How was the activity carried out?
On Friday 8th there was a workshop and at the end the groups were put together. The competition was on Saturday 9th from nine in the morning to nine in the evening and on Sunday 10th from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon.
Of the challenges proposed, three by the ARU and one by INIA, which one did you choose and how did you go about developing the solution?
We analysed the four challenges and as a group we chose to work on solving one of the problems posed by the ARU, which was to develop prevention mechanisms for diseases in winter crops, linked to the analysis of climatological events and the state of development of the crops. We started by proposing ideas to put together something that we wanted to have an impact and repercussion in the short and long term. We proposed a mechanism for detecting future weather events that defined a risk zone for disease occurrence. The challenge considered wheat and barley crops and the diseases ramularia, leaf spot and fusarium. The solution had three parts: scientific information on diseases and crops, another part by Agustín on the integration of artificial intelligence platforms proposing the use of technological sensors called IoT and Carlos contributed everything related to business models and schemes.
What did the jurors tell them?
They said that our project had great potential, that they trusted the proposal we were offering them.
What was the name of the winning project?
Precision View, because we are looking for efficiency, with geo-referenced, fully localised information. Our project is based on providing the producer with a value-added service in relation to what is already offered today, that is, specific detection mechanisms, because the reality of a health problem related to a climatic event in a crop is not the same in this place (the note was made at the stand of the British Embassy at Expo Prado) as it is at the entrance to the Rural del Prado.
Do you intend to exploit this development, to set the scene for its arrival on the market?
We have already met to talk about how to continue. It is a project that was formulated in less than 24 hours, it gave us great satisfaction and it is a good basis that we have to continue working on.
How can they be located by those who want to know more?
The idea is to initiate the development of a web platform and to generate means of communication in social networks. At the moment we have our e-mail addresses at our disposal: capano8@gmail.com; agus_acker@hotmail.com; and juankniazev1996@gmail.com.
The prize is a trip to London.
Yes, we are going to a conference on bioeconomy and agriculture, called "Disruptive technologies in agriculture". We will also be at Harper Adams, one of the most renowned universities in the UK, which covers everything related to agriculture, from animal health issues to machinery and agricultural economics.
Why did you choose to study agronomy? Are your parents linked to the countryside?
I decided to go to the fourth year of high school. I chose to do a technical baccalaureate at the UTU, to have three years of agricultural training, and then I started university. My father works in the meat processing plant in La Caballada. My mother was an architecture student and also works there, in Salto, in a supermarket. I don't come from a farming family but I chose to train in this field.
From your role as a student, what can you say about the sector?
It is a very valuable sector for the country, which needs to be taken care of, it is a sector that needs to focus more on sustainability, for that we need to use more technology and we wanted to contribute, from the Hackathon Agro we seek to contribute to take care of the business and the environment. For example, in England there are drones inside greenhouses detecting pests, spraying and verifying that the problem has been solved efficiently and all with the same equipment, and here there are places where fertiliser is still applied by bag. It is impressive how everything is progressing and with our idea we are seeking to provide a solution to one of the problems that the ARU believes needs to be solved.
The file
- Date of Birth: 29 June 1996
- Residence: Born in Montevideo, but lived since childhood in Salto and returned to the capital to study agronomy (he is in his second year).
- Concern: Receive publications from INIA, Plan Agropecuario and other agencies.
- Activities: Likes sports (played basketball in the Salto Uruguay club).
- Basketball: He's a Trouville supporter
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