"Disrupt Agriculture" is the slogan for the first FRUIT LOGISTICA Start-up Day event

"Disrupt Agriculture" is the slogan for the first FRUIT LOGISTICA Start-up Day taking place on Friday, 8 February 2019. This theme addresses the numerous short- and long-term challenges facing the agricultural industry in the future. Experts estimate that the global population will reach close to 10 billion people by 2050. To meet the continuing demand for agricultural products, growers will need to increase production. They will have to become more efficient, agile and flexible. The worldwide digital transformation also offers the agricultural sector many possible solutions for growing fruits and vegetables. New ideas in this relatively young discipline are often innovative start-up companies. Twenty of them will present their disruptive industry solutions every ten minutes on Start-up Day. "We created Start-up Day as a unique, future-focused platform for the industry. The idea is to drive innovative change forward across the value chain. As the leading trade fair for the global fresh produce trade, FRUIT LOGISTICA is a perfect venue because this is where all the key industry players come together," explains Madlen Miserius, FRUIT LOGISTICA Senior Product Manager. Start-up Day focuses on visionary topics: digital farming, ag-tech and supply chain management. Start-ups specialising in digital farming are using digital solutions to optimise agricultural processes and enable more efficient and sustainable operations. AgriTask, a start-up based in Israel, aims at increasing farm productivity through the extensive use of agricultural data and advanced technologies. The company has developed a management tool for businesses in the agroecosystem. The progress in digital transformation is also being exploited by the Dutch AgTech start-up PATS Indoor Drone Solutions. Small drones autonomously attack flying insects and pests. With this solution, harmful insects, such as moths, are detected and eliminated. This prevents further spread of the pest, reduces the need for (bio) insecticides, and minimises the work involved in plant protection. Reducing the workload is also one of the objectives of supply chain management. ImpactVision, an American start-up, helps companies increase produce consistency and automate quality control by using hyperspectral imaging technology to non-invasively detect properties such as freshness, ripeness or pH, and the presence foreign objects in real-time. At the same time, it optimises the transport process. Sparrows, a New Zealand start-up, also focuses on optimising transport operations. The company combines powerful software and robust hardware to offer customers better visibility, transparency and control over the supply chain. The devices are attached directly to the shipment, not the vehicle, so the customer can access real-time location and temperature data while goods are in transit. Details on the participating start-ups and their industry solutions can be found online at the Virtual Market Place and on the FRUIT LOGISTICA website. More information about Start-up Day and the participating start-ups is available here. The programme for the Start-up Stage is available here.