As part of the partnership, Aerobotics will provide its cutting edge tree crop analytics to farms that are members of The Co-op. Farmers will be able to utilise their relevant Co-op account to purchase Aerobotics’ services, which means they have the option to pay for the advanced tree crop analytics provided by Aerobotics after harvesting. These include two separate packages, the Seasonal Drone Service and the Fly Your Own Drone package.
“We are proud to take our partnership with the farming community to the next level through this agreement with The Co-op,” said Aerobotics’ CEO James Paterson. “Our technology and software could quite literally change the face of farming in the Eastern Cape and help over a thousand farmers mitigate damage to their crops from pests and diseases, increase their yield and produce a more balanced crop.”
Aerobotics processes data from drone and satellite imagery through its proprietary artificial intelligence software to discover and analyse problems, pests and diseases affecting individual trees or vines on a farm. In addition to health, the software also measures size, height and canopy volume. This type of highly accurate data empowers farmers to make better decisions in the field, so they can increase their yield and produce a more balanced crop.
The Co-op is a leading agricultural business that delivers innovative client services to ensure the profitability of their producers on a sustainable basis. The Co-op, established in 1944, operate in the Tsitsikamma, Sundays River Valley, Fish River Valley, Gamtoos Valley, Uitenhage, East London, Port Elizabeth, Bathurst, Qamata, Humansdorp and Kareedouw areas.
Through affiliates, The Co-op also has a footprint in the Western Cape and former Transkei and Ciskei areas. Products and services are provided to dairy, citrus, deciduous fruit, sheep, ostrich and grain farmers. Chief Operating Officer, Jannie Louw, describes the unique partnership as a great step towards adding value to agriculture in general.
“We are working and living in exciting times in South Africa. Partnerships like these are energising, and it makes us proud to stay involved in agriculture,” said Louw.
Aerobotics will have a presence in major Co-op branches from January 2019. The partnership will hold various activation events for farmers in the region.
Farmers that are members of The Co-op can find out more information about the partnership with Aerobotics and how to access Aerobotics’ tree crop analytics technology and software here.
Aerobotics
Cape Town start-up, Aerobotics, provides farmers around the world with world-leading pest and disease management systems for tree crop protection using drone and satellite data. The company was co-founded by James Paterson (CEO) and Benji Meltzer (CTO) in 2014.
Farming is a risky business with pests and disease often reducing a farmer’s yields. Aerobotics’ software, Aeroview, empowers tree crop farmers to identify early stage problems in their orchards. Used in conjunction with the Aerobotics’ Aeroview Scout App on their smartphone,
farmers are able to locate problem areas on a tree-by-tree basis. Achieving success for more than 11 million trees to-date, Aerobotics is setting the standard for tree crop analytics globally and innovating the agricultural processes as we know them.
