Bayer partners with Adroit Robotics for digital citrus monitoring

With the aim of increasingly bringing citrus growers closer to innovative solutions, Bayer, a German health and nutrition multinational, has just announced a partnership with agtech Adroit Robotics. Specialized in artificial intelligence, the startup developed LeafSense technology, capable of collecting data from the orchard to help fruit growers make more assertive decisions in the field.

The partnership, which began to be built in 2020, will benefit users of Impulso Bayer, the company's loyalty and relationship program. Producers registered in the program will be able to exchange points for Adroit technology through the Orbia marketplace.

According to Rodrigo Morais, leader of Bayer's fruit and vegetable strategy for Latam, the news is in line with Bayer's strategic pillars and objectives of expanding the variety of customized solutions for its customers and helping to shape the future of agriculture. “Innovation is a collaborative process and that is why we have encouraged and worked through the open innovation model with startups, hubs and other entities to establish partnerships in search of innovative solutions to agribusiness challenges and problems”, says Morais.

The executive also says that digital transformation is in the company's DNA and that the company is committed to bringing different solutions in this regard to rural producers. “Through the partnership with Adroit, we expand our reach to fruit and vegetable producers and can help them increase productivity through the use of technology”, he concludes.

LeafSense technology features intelligent sensors compatible with any agricultural machinery, which continuously scan plants and fruits, using artificial intelligence and high-resolution images to map the productivity and health of the orchard -- all georeferenced and made available to the producer through an easy dashboard handling.

“With this partnership, we will further expand the solutions we deliver to our customers, allowing greater agility, productivity, sustainability and more assertive decision making. It is a significant gain for the citrus grower and an opportunity for him to become even more technological”, reinforces Morais.

Since 2020, the technology has been tested in pilots distributed across 14 citrus properties with more than 70 hectares each, totaling more than 1 thousand hectares and 4 million trees monitored. According to Fabio Terracini, CEO of Adroit Robotics, the period was important for understanding the citrus grower's pain points and, now, the partnership with Bayer comes to enhance the reach of the technology.

“By taking a new and disruptive technological solution to the field in partnership with a traditional company like Bayer, which has in-depth knowledge of the sector, we intend to accelerate the dissemination of knowledge and help rural producers extract the best from their orchards, leveraging their significant gains”, points out Terracini.

Vidotti Group's agricultural manager, Fabrício Santos, had the opportunity to apply the technology in the company's day-to-day operations and says that the benefits have been noticed since the beginning. “I learned about the technology from Bayer representatives. We use the system to create an inventory, which helps us replant the entire property using only the data obtained by the platform. We are also monitoring the estimated numbers and evolution of fruit diameter, which will help us with the property’s financial planning,” he says.

Among the other features made available by LeafSense are the possibility of monitoring the fruit maturation period, quantifying those in the soil and checking whether there are any flaws in the orchard to replace the trees, in addition to supporting the detection of pests and diseases right at the beginning. initial stage and on a large scale.

According to Rodrigo Morais, from Bayer, the company seeks solutions and partnerships that allow greater production per hectare and reduce environmental impact, enabling more intelligent and efficient decision-making for its customers. “We offer solutions designed to meet the specific needs of farmers’ rural properties, crops and soils. Through this partnership with Adroit, we take another step to bring even more innovation to rural producers. We will have a producer at the forefront of technology”, concludes the executive.