Event News

David discussed Nutreco's role in feeding the world's rapidly growing population. (image source: Skretting)

Hosted by Skretting, the 15th edition of Aquavision 2024 took place from 10-12 June in Stravanger, Norway

The event was attended by 450 participants from more than 50 countries who took home great memories of networking and inspiring presentations from a wide range of highly skilled speakers. Nutreco CEO, David Blakemore highlighted the company's role in feeding the world's rapidly growing population. The next speaker was UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP28, IUCN President, Gonzalo Muñoz, who dived into the topic of sustainability, concisely summarising the severity of this challenge.

World-renowned economist, professor Paul Krugman then presented a session on market disruptions and provided an overview of the state of current world economy. The next presentations were by Claudia Salem from Santa Priscila on innovation, Dag Sletmo from DNB Seafood and Mark Gallagher from F1. There were also useful insights from CEO of Marine Technologies, Dr Santhana Krishnan, and general manager of Nutreco China, Jason Yang. Both of them talked about India and China respectively, and it was interesting to hear their perspectives on the growth opportunities that lie in these markets. 

On Day 2, CEO of Iris.ai, Anita Schjøll Abildgaard spoke about artificial intelligence and the popularity that it has gathered over the years. She also talked about the issues and ethics around AI that the world is only starting to scratch the surface of. Lastly, she talked about what the executives in the aquaculture industry need to be looking out for, such as real-time video processing and fully autonomous devices.

During the session, the audience also got some brief glimpses into some of today's most revolutionary innovations, from Nutreco's Garden of the Future, to Aker BioMarine's fully autonomous drone that can catch krill in the Antarctica. As a tribute to the opening act by Stavanger-based visually impaired singer, Thomas Tvedt, Skretting's CEO, Bastiaan van Tilburg ended off the conference by playing a little tune on the piano.

During the forum, Netafim discussed the transformative role of precision agriculture solutions in promoting sustainable agriculture and enhancing food security in Africa. (Image source: Ndetafim)

This year, Netafim participated in the Africa CEO Forum which took place from 16-17 May in Kigali, Rwanda 

During the forum, which is the largest private sector international conference focused on shaping Africa's future, Gaby (Gabriel) Miodownik, president & CEO of Netafim, Orbia Precision Agriculture Business, along with the company’s SVP of EMEA, Gal Yarden met with the Prime Minister of Ivory Coast, Robert Beugré Mambé, to discuss the transformative role of precision agriculture solutions in promoting sustainable agriculture and enhancing food security in Africa.

While participating in a roundtable discussion, Miodownik showcased the Gabiro Agribusiness Hub and emphasised the importance of technological advancements and public-private partnerships in transforming African agriculture, empowering smallholders, and promoting food security.

Netafim has been offering offering agronomic support and precision irrigation tools to both smallholder communities and large-scale farms for more than three decades. The primary objective of the company is to lead projects and initiatives that are beneficial to all stakeholders involved. Through these projects, the company aims to foster prosperity, sustainability and food security. 

The platform is active in 25 Nigerian states and moved almost US$30mn worth of produce last year. (Image source: GITEX Africa))

Winich Farms has announced its decision to participate in Africa's largest Tech and startup event, GITEX Africa for the second time in a row this year

Winich Farms is an agritech platform specifically designed to tackle the pain points plaguing Nigeria's agricultural sector. It operates on two key pillars, namely providing farmers with better market access and financial empowerment, and thus successfully operating at the intersection of agritech, embedded finance, and financial inclusion. 

Through a digital marketplace, Winich Farms connects farmers directly with off-takers like factories and retailers, effectively cutting out the middleman to ensure farmers receive a significantly fairer share for their produce. The product tackles a problem facing most of the African continent. 

Today, Winich Farms has over 80,000 users on its platform spanning smallholder farmers, agents, truck drivers, and off-takers. The platform is active in 25 Nigerian states and moved almost US$30mn worth of produce last year. In a 2023 survey of 5,000 registered farmers on the Winich Farms platform, 93% of the farmers said that it has increased by over 50%. Some 65% of them said that Winich has made them more climate-resilient.

For more information, visit: https://GITEXAfrica.com 

The panel discussion will take place from 10:15 AM to 11 AM at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. (Image source: AIPH)

The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) will be moderating a panel session at 10 am tomorrow at GreenTech RAI Amsterdam to discuss sustainable growing media solutions and industry readiness

Delving into the topic of sustainable growing media, the panel session will explore the industry’s response, the challenges it poses, and the innovative solutions being developed. After trialling peat-free substrates for two decades, the Farplants Group, one of the UK's largest wholesale ornamental plant growers, has built a wealth of experience in peat-free growing. The company's technical manager (trials and new product development), Gracie Barrett, will be one of the panel speakers at tomorrow's event. 

Barrett's research on peat-free substrates has emphasised the importance of understanding the distinct properties of different component materials and the challenges of inconsistency and nutrient leaching, thus making her an expert in this field. “The substrates we use are predominantly wood-based, and a reasonable proportion of our crops are now final potted into peat-free substrates," said Barrett. "Most of our products will be potted peat-free by 2026."

Other panellists include secretary general of AIPH, Tim Briercliffe, director of portfolio management at Kekkilä BVB, Nedeljko Basic, peat specialist at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, Van Nguyen and owner and CEO of Greenhouse Sustainability, Henri Potze. 

The panel discussion will take place from 10:15 AM to 11 AM at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. The panel is part of the ongoing event, GreenTech Amsterdam which is taking place from 11-13 June. 

For more information, visit: https://www.greentech.nl/amsterdam