Page 13 - Vol.40-No.4 issue

CROP PROTECTION
Carbon Robotics to Biobest marks a new era: Inauguration of
Help Revolutionize a state-of-the-art facility and revealing of a

Farming with AI, Using new structure and name
Investment from
NVentures

thing we do, these energy e#ciency gains
are part of the innovative approaches we are
taking to minimise the Group’s carbon foot-
print,” said Jean-Marc.

Carbon Robotics, the leader in AI-powered Re%ecting on the current legislative land-
farming, today announced that it has re- scape, Jean-Marc said, “while delighted to
ceived an investment from NVentures, NVID- Biobest Group N.V. was honoured to wel- unveil our new state-of-the-art predatory
IA’s venture capital arm. This underscores the come David Clarinval, Deputy Prime Minister mite production facility today, we continue
power of AI in transforming farming world- and Minister for the Self-Employed, SMEs to urge EU policymakers to shorten the
wide, as well as Carbon Robotics’ leadership and Agriculture, Institutional Reforms and lengthy registration processes for biopesti-
cides where we are currently putting our Eu-
and innovation in the industry. Carbon Ro- Democratic Renewal and Jo Brouns - Flem- ropean growers and farmers at a serious dis-
botics’ LaserWeeder™ has been proven by ish Minister of Economy, Innovation, Work, advantage in accessing solutions to counter
Social Economy and Agriculture to o#cially
top farmers to reduce weed control costs by open its new cutting-edge, predatory mite increasing pest resistance to conventional
80 percent and signi!cantly increase crop production facility – the latest milestone for pesticides. Registration of biopesticides cur-
yield and quality. By providing farmers with the company at the forefront of global sus- rently takes between 6 to 10 years in Europe,
an innovative weeding solution that does tainable crop production. This event also while everywhere else in the world it takes
not rely on traditional methods of chemical provided the perfect opportunity to reveal only 1 to 3 years.”
herbicides, hand labor, or soil cultivation, the group's new name, BioFirst Group, and Minister Jo Brouns adds: “In a time, when
its structure and logo, marking a signi!cant
Carbon Robotics is at the forefront of using step in its evolution. Europe is being challenged on the very foun-
AI to protect crops, people, and the planet.
Established in Belgium over 37 years ago, dations of its cooperation, it is our responsi-
Leveraging the power of 24 NVIDIA GPUs, today the group employs over 2,800 people bility to create the strategic autonomy that is
the LaserWeeder processes 4.7 million high- worldwide, working with growers and farm- needed to feed the next generations of Euro-
resolution images per hour, o"ering unpar- ers in over 70 countries. A key component of pean citizens. If we want to do that in a more
alleled AI-driven plant detection and identi- its growing portfolio of biological crop pro- sustainable way, which we should, then we
!cation to target and eliminate weeds with tection and crop health products, predatory must also give our farming sector the chance
mites are deployed by growers worldwide to
lasers. The LaserWeeder can eradicate 5,000 control economically important pests and to develop and use the alternatives that are
weeds per minute with sub-millimeter pre- play a central role in the ecologically-sound needed.”
cision and utilizes the world’s most diverse production of high yielding, healthy crops. New BioFirst Group name and
and fastest-growing agricultural image da- These tiny natural predators help to mi- logo unveiled
taset, comprising 25 million labeled plants nimise chemical pesticide usage and satisfy At the o#cial opening, Biobest Group took
and more than 30,000 crop and weed mod- societal demands for healthier, residue-free the opportunity to unveil its new company
crops.
els. The LaserWeeder also captures real-time structure, Group name and logo.
“Our 12m EUR investment in this new
metrics on crops and weeds and sends them state-of-the-art, 4000sqm mite-rearing facil- “Following our recent acquisition of
to the cloud, providing farmers with action- ity will greatly boost our production capa- Biotrop – the Brazilian leader in biopesti-
able visual insights into their !eld farming bilities and house up to 50 employees,” said cides, biostimulants and inoculants for open-
operations at any time, from anywhere. Biobest Group CEO Jean-Marc Vandoorne. !eld row crops – Biobest Group has reorgan-
“With this investment, and using the pow- “Thanks to our highly skilled teams and our ised its structure to improve its operational
er of AI, we can help farmers create farms pioneering mass-rearing techniques for e#ciencies and agility,” explained Jean-Marc.
mites, this new facility stands at the forefront
and food systems of the future that are more of biocontrol innovation. It enables us to “Rebranded as BioFirst Group, we now have
productive, e#cient, healthy, and pro!table,” scale up production to enhance our ability to a structure focusing on the horticulture mar-
ket and a structure focusing on the open
said Paul Mikesell, CEO and founder of Car- ful!l customer demands.” !eld market.”
bon Robotics. Utilising the latest technologies and in-
In the horticulture market, Biobest and its
“AI and advanced robotics have im- novations, Biobest’s new production facility worldwide subsidiaries will continue to focus
mense potential in addressing the myriad is run entirely on green energy and is fossil- on the development, production and sales
fuel free. It features a heat pump system, air
of challenges present in agriculture,” said handling units, a high-end heat exchanger of bene!cial insects, mites and nematodes
Mohamed “Sid” Siddeek, corporate vice to maximise energy recovery and a solar PV- to control plant pests in greenhouse crops.
president and head of NVentures. “Carbon installation generating 416.000 kWh per year BioWorks will focus on the development,
Robotics’ innovative solution improves equivalent to a production and sales of biopesticides in hor-
farming practices to increase sustainability reduction of CO² emissions for the entire ticulture crops and Plant Products, will com-
and improve the quality of produce avail- Westerlo site by 15% or 44 tons. prise a number of one-stop shop distributors
able to consumers.” Circle 12 on enquiry card “With sustainability at the heart of every- in the horticulture market. Circle 13 on enquiry card
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