New Zealand-based agricultural technology company CropLogic has secured its first Australian hub as part of the Mildura Regional Development – Smart Farm project.
The projectis being developed to foster further growth in the Mildura region’s horticultural and agriculture sector, through the uptake of advancing technology.
Once developed, the Smart Farm will provide vocational education and training that unites experience with knowledge through links between universities, horticultural experts and technology companies, growers and robotic specialists from around the world. It is hoped the Smart Farm will become a recognised centre of excellence in applied education, tech research and commercial development.
CropLogic will work in collaboration with Mildura Regional Development, the Victorian Government and SproutX – a joint venture between Findex and Australia’s National Farmers’ Federation– on the development of Smart Farm.
The project fits well with CropLogic’s future growth strategy for Austalia, which is centred around a specified region in the south east of the country that includes Mildura.
The strategy is based on market data that confirms that this area represents approximately 74 per cent of Australia’s horticulture acres, with a gross product at the farm gate ofA$3.4bn per annum.
“CropLogic values these partnerships in its global growth strategy and it’s why we were eager to take this opportunity when approached by SproutX and Mildura Regional Development,” explained James Cooper-Jones, CEO of CropLogic.
Cooper-Jones said the application of CropLogic’s realTime solution had been a success in the US’s Columbia Basin. He said there were synergies between this area and the Mildura region.
“A big part of this success was the expertise and local knowledge developed through CropLogic’s regional partnerships there,” Cooper-Jones explained.
“A lot of the tree and viticulture crops that are seeing a resurgence and boom in the Mallee / Riverina are crops CropLogic has been servicing in the US. We’re getting great feedback from these growers and we’re eager to bring this technology to Mildura and contribute to grower’s optimum yield rates there too.”