The Agricultural Valley 4.0, modern technologies in agriculture and a conclusions from the study visit to the USA – these were the main topics of the first meeting of the Working Group on “Agricultural Valley 4.0” Innovation Ecosystem, which took place on Tuesday, 17 January. The meeting was attended by representatives of the business, science and agriculture sector. The Voivodeship Government was represented by Deputy Marshal Sebastian Łukaszewicz, Voivodeship Board Member Marek Malinowski and Voivodeship Councilman Paweł Wnukowski, chairman of the Regional Assembly Committee on Economic Development and Promotion.
The Deputy Marshal opened the meeting with the words: We are taking concrete steps. He noted that The Agricultural Valley 4.0 was listed as one of Podlaskie’s strategic projects for 2021 – 2027 and it is time speed things up. I hope that during our monthly meetings we will be able to develop the scheme for this ecosystem and that the Agricultural Valley 4.0 will be established soon. Mariusz Dąbrowski, Director of the Investors Assistance and Business Promotion Bureau at the Marshal’s Office, explained that the Agricultural Valley 4.0 Regional Innovation Ecosystem is a project aimed at creating the right conditions for the development of modern technologies focused of three main areas: Agriculture (AgriTech), food (FoodTech) and health (HealthTech).
It would be based on close cooperation between technology industries and agriculture in our region , and its task would be to create new concepts and technological solutions, as well as implementing them. Being a typically agricultural region, with its scientific background and well-developed food processing sector, Podlaskie seems to be an ideal place for this project.
Mariusz Dąbrowski emphasized that in order for the project to bring the expected results, it must have a global reach. Therefore, as he pointed out, it is necessary to constantly establish relationship networks. This was one of the aims of the working group’s experts study visit in the Silicon Valley. In November 2022 they familiarized themselves with the American innovation ecosystem. During their stay in California, they visited technological start-ups, research centres, and had talks in the State parliament and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
The first meeting of the Agricultural Valley 4.0 Innovation Ecosystem Working Group also discussed AgriTech, i.e. smart solutions in agriculture. The lecture on this topic was delivered by the Vice-Rector of the International Academy of Applied Sciences in Łomża Prof. Andrzej Borusiewicz. One of his highlights was that the global population is constantly growing and needs food. This poses challenges to agriculture, which must be more and more efficient. Agriculture 4.0, or, in other words, agricultural applying modern, smart technologies, can be of help.
The Agricultural Valley project is financed by the regional program. The next meeting of the working group is scheduled for February 21 this year
The Agricultural Valley 4.0 Innovation Ecosystem Working Group is an advisory body in the implementation of the Agricultural Valley 4.0 project. The group comprises of representatives of the largest universities in Podlaskie (University of Białystok, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok University of Technology), clusters, advisory centres (Podlaskie Agricultural Advisory Centre in Szepietowo) and enterprises from various sectors: agricultural machinery manufacturers (InterTech, Metal-fach, Pronar, SaMASZ), IT (Infinity Group, TenderHut), agri-food businesses (BioPlant Natura, Edpol Food and Innovation, Agrocentrum Group).
Project “Establishing institutional foundations and essential knowledge base for the Agricultural Valley 4.0 Regional Innovation Ecosystem” within Regional Operational Programme of the Podlaskie Voivodeship for the years 2014-2020.