Smart Farming Services for Tobacco – Agreement between SEKE & NEUROPUBLIC

The agreement

The Cooperative Union of Tobacco Producers in Greece (S.E.K.E S.A.) and NEUROPUBLIC S.A., signed today 15-2-2019, an agreement regarding the further development and adoption of smart farming services, aiming at the optimization of tobacco production by tobacco producers of S.E.K.E.

The agreement will render both S.E.K.E. and Greece pioneers regarding tobacco production as it will be the first application of smart farming services in the specific crop at a global level.
The cooperation between the two organizations regarding the development of a smart farming system for tobacco started in 2017 in the specific area, in order to allow its preparation at a larger scale. With the current agreement, the application of the Smart Farming system is expanded.

Beneficiaries

The first to benefit from the application of smart farming are about 300 tobacco producers in the area of Xanthi with a perspective to expand its application to the whole number of about 15.000 tobacco producers that cooperate with S.E.K.E..
During the first phase of the program’s implementation, 11 agro-environmental telemetric stations measuring both atmospheric and soil parameters at the tobacco fields will be installed and operate.
The specific implementation of the gaiasense smart farming system in the case of tobacco is named sekesense.

Which smart farming services will be developed

The smart farming services will be specifically developed for the tobacco crop in collaboration with specialized scientists, experiences agronomists of S.E.K.E. and selected tobacco producers. The design of the services will be based on the specificities of each application area and will focus on the provision of advise on irrigation, ferilization and crop protection. At the same time, it will technologically upgrade the traceability level which S.E.K.E. already applies. Through the use of these services, tobacco producers will be able to address the needs of their crop with precision, reducing their production costs and improving the quantity and quality of their production.
At the same time, through the agricultural warnings service for extreme weather phenomena which will be available in the context of the specific project, tobacco producers will be able to schedule in the best possible way their farming activities

The gaiasense smart farming system of NEUROPUBLIC, on which the aforementioned services are based, is an innovation at European level..
It is based on a unique combination of information technologies and trans-disciplinary fields, making use of various data types and the experience of agricultural advisors and producers.

Benefits for the tobacco producers

Responding to the mandates of the markets regarding the production in an environmentally-friendly way, S.E.K.E., the largest tobacco company in Greece and one of the largest in the Balkans, adopts smart farming services through which tobacco production with a significantly reduced environmental footprint will be achieved.
At the same time, it offers to its producers the possibility to improve their competitiveness and increase their income through the adoption of new innovative production management methods.

For more information about NEUROPUBLIC’s smart farming services, you can visit the website www.gaiasense.gr/en.