As part of the 112th edition of Expo Prado, eight teams made up of entrepreneurs and specialists in technology, agriculture and business competed in the HackatonAGRO, the competition that for the second consecutive year set out to devise innovative and technological solutions to solve the various challenges faced by the agricultural sector.
The challenge, organized by the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (Cuti), the Rural Association of Uruguay (ARU), the British Embassy and the da Vinci Foundation, consisted of the presentation of a business model and a minimum viable product or prototype that solves situations related to the agricultural sector.
The winning proposal -devised by Agustín Ackermann, Juan Francisco Kniazev and Carlos Capano- found the most efficient way to prevent leaf spot problems in barley nets. On the other hand, the team formed by María Inés Álvarez, Ignacio Figueredo and Marcelo Ortega, took second place with a project that presented an irrigation platform, which provides producers with information that allows them to choose the right time to irrigate and the amount of water to use. The third winning team, which was formed by Fabiana Mautone, Javier Rodríguez and Renzo Mayer, proposed home automation solutions for virtual fencing.
"The proposals of all the teams were very good, although they worked on topics that are not of general knowledge, the teams did a lot of research and looked for innovative solutions, obtaining really interesting final results", explained the president of Cuti, Leonardo Loureiro.
The eight participating groups, each composed of three members with different profiles (experts in technology, agronomy and business) and supported by 11 mentors, worked on four challenges: solutions for irrigation, prevention of crop diseases, purchase/sale of livestock and application of home automation in agriculture.
Loureiro explained that the HackathonAGRO was a first step to combine information technologies with the agricultural sector.
"The hackathon works as training for the teams, we don't expect them to come up with definitive solutions. Our idea was for them to present the beginning of an investigation and their ideas, since, later, they will be able to incorporate knowledge and advance in the project," he said.
The winners were awarded tickets and a four-night stay in the UK to attend the conference "Game Changing Technologies for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy" and to visit Harper Adams University, a leading university in agriculture and the production industry, where the winning team will meet with the institute's authorities and entrepreneurs in the agricultural and livestock sector.
The activity was declared of Ministerial Interest by the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries. HackathonAGRO V2.0 was made possible thanks to the support of Siur Viajes, Fomin-Bid, ICA and INIA.
Interview with the winners of HackathonAGRO:
Connect