Researchers from the Smart Farming Lab explore the potential of drone technology in agriculture in the land of the Prosecco wine

From 1 to 4 October, a team of researchers from the University of Leipzig visited the University of Padua as part of the Arqus ISLYE programme (International Soft Landing for Young Entrepreneurs).

The Smart Farming Lab at the University of Leipzig offers a comprehensive range of services and expertise in key areas such as drones and remote sensing, autonomous agricultural robots, data management and knowledge transfer.

They visited Padua to explore the potential of drone technology in agriculture, with a focus on viticulture and horticulture. Their objective was to identify ways to optimise irrigation and plant development. Given their strong background and competences in viticulture, they believed it would be highly beneficial to establish contact and validate their approach and the technology they have at hand.

During their visit, Martin and Susann were welcomed by Stefania Coppo from the Arqus Linking local ecosystems‘ team at the University of Padua, and an administrative member of the Third Mission and Valorization of Research Area. They had the chance to meet a local startup dealing with drones, AirFarm, Galileo District Design with its incubator Start Cube and UniSmart, Unipd Foundation and partner for the European Projects and the technological transfer.

Meetings at CIRVE

The main activity was held at Cirve, the Interdepartmental Centre for Research in Viticulture and Enology of the University of Padua in Conegliano, the land of Prosecco wine. There, they met several experts: Andrea Pitacco, Franco Meggio, Giovanni Battista-Tornielli, Francesco Marinello and Marco Sozzo. They also met Diego Tomasi, the director of the Consorzio Prosecco Superiore Doc.

It was a meeting full of valuable insights into the needs of farmers in the region and how applied technologies can help them tackle important and actual challenges (plant health and diseases, climate change, etc.).

More on the ISLYE programme

The main purpose of this mobility is to facilitate connections between groups of researchers, students and start-ups with external ecosystems. To facilitate meetings with other research groups, investors and/or potential customers.  

Another key objective of this initiative is to establish an Arqus common ecosystem among the alliance partners that is more integrated and offers greater potential for growth, technology exchange and business development of ideas and projects.

More information here.