Today we took a train to the city of Utrecht to visit Aurea Imaging and walk around the city!
Once we arrived at Aurea Imaging (a precision agriculture company), we were given an overview presentation by International Sales Engineer and Operations Process Owner Ruan Kruger. The company uses drones to assist farmers in crop growth, making harvests more plentiful and efficient. One of the first pieces of technology Ruan introduced us to were blossom maps. These maps are created by drones scanning an orchard and identifying trees that were in bloom. The initial prescription maps are then converted to a GPS map that indicates to farmers which trees to pick apples from, which alleviates the time farmers would take to investigate one tree at a time. The second application of drones that Aurea Imaging uses for crop protection. Drones are sent out to identify infested (with pear bud weevil being the main culprit) or sick trees. Again, the prescription maps from the initial scan are converted into a GPS map to now show the spraying system which trees need infestation treatment. Another use-case for drone technology utilized by Aurea Imaging in agriculture is for vigour (growth strength) mapping and growth regulation (root pruning). This technology allows farmers to identify specific trees that may need extra assistance in growth and development. Farmers are then able to cater specifically to individual trees instead of wasting fertilizer or time root pruning on an entire orchard. Lastly, Ruan explained Aurea Imaging plans to combine the crop protection scanning and spray system 0nto one tractor, which would simultaneously and instantaneously identify and treat an infected tree.
I found all of the drone applications in precision agriculture to be fascinating and would like to see it expand to the US, especially in my hometown. In an ideal world, I feel like it would be really cool if Aurea Imaging had drone stations worldwide (again in an ideal world where drone regulations are not an issue), where all farmers could request assistance and a drone could immediately scan their farm. Though that level of global outreach is likely out of reach and not possible, I think precision farming could completely change agriculture across the world. With a maximized amount of harvest, the supply of produce would flood supply chains and presumably cause a decrease in the price of produce. Also, optimizing farming would also allow fresh foods and produce to reach more consumers in the supply chain and give people the opportunity to have healthier food options.
After our lunch at Aurea Imaging, we went on a tour of Utrecht hosted by Sophia. She took us all around to her favorite spots in the city, including a library, a center square with shops, and a historic church. The city was very similar to Amsterdam (much more so than Rotterdam) given the architecture of the buildings and all of the canals. What I preferred about Utrecht when compared to Amsterdam is the main streets are not accessible by cars, so only bicyclers and pedestrians were allowed to be on the sidewalks. While on our tour, Frank and Dr. Bursic treated the whole group to gelato, so again, thank you both for the treat!
Tomorrow we get to tour the business school at UVA and go on a canal cruise!