FarmSustainaBl

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Project title: Enabling Smart Livestock Farming Technologies for Environmental Sustainability using Blockchain

Acronym: FarmSustainaBl

Project’s identification number: 119 ⁄ 2019

Project leader: Ec.Dr.Ing. George SUCIU (BEIA Consult International)

Project financed by UEFISCDI through the European and International Cooperation Program

Phase 1 – Requirements analysis – Research report on functional and non-functional requirements. 31/12/2019

Act 1.1 – Requirements analysis – A2(A) Industrial research in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Phase 2 – State of the art and use cases – Research report on the current state of knowledge and use cases – 30/06/2020

Act 2.1 – State of the art – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Act 2.2 – Use cases and business cases – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Results

Following the research activity within the second phase of the FarmSustainaBl project called “Current state of knowledge and use cases”, the analysis of how blockchain technology can be used in the agri-food industry was analyzed. The general approach to the management of GHG emissions at farm level was also established, the specific use case of BEIA was defined and a preliminary algorithm for calculating these emissions was structured.
The report is complemented by an analysis of how the project results can be transferred to the market and the most appropriate business models. Thus, the exploitable results were defined, the competitive advantages of the FarmSustainBL solution were identified and the target market and its potential were analyzed. The analysis is completed by identifying marketing strategies, pricing and distribution channels.
The results of the project were disseminated in national and international conferences / events and in scientific publications (1 article accepted in an international conference and 2 articles being evaluated).

Phase 3 – Architectures, methods and tools – Research report on architecture, functional specifications and tools needed for data analysis – 31/12/2020

Act 3.1 – Defining the architecture and functional specifications – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or with the dissemination of results

Act 3.2 – Methods and tools for data analysis in precision agriculture – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Results

During the third phase of the FarmSustainaBl project called “Architectures, methods and tools” the functional specifications of the system were made, a system architecture was proposed and the existing methods and tools for data analysis in precision agriculture were analyzed.

Also during this phase we studied various methods for data analysis in precision agriculture. Following the study, a variety of methods that can be used in the development and implementation of the solution proposed by the FarmSustainaBl system were highlighted. Also, over 20 computer data analysis programs were analyzed, Grafana being cataloged the most useful in the cases of use of Romanian partners. The results of the project were disseminated in national and international conferences / events and in scientific publications (2 articles being published in the volume of an ISI and IEEE indexed conference, 1 article being evaluated in an ISI-listed journal).

Phase 4 – Platform definition – Research report on protocols, blockchain architecture and integration environment 30/06/2021

Act 4.1 – Protocols for data transmission from sensors – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Act 4.2 – Definition of the blockchain system architecture – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Act 4.3 – Initialization of the environment of continuous integration – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or with the dissemination of results

Phase 5 – Evaluation and validation – Test and validation report of the system components – 31/12/2021

Act 5.1 – Definition of the evaluation criteria for the validation process – A2 (A) – Industrial research in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Act 5.2 – Testing and evaluation of system components – A3 (A) – Experimental development in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Phase 6 – Integration, piloting and dissemination – Report on system integration and piloting, and dissemination of project results – 30/09/2022

Act 6.1 – System integration – A3 (A) – Experimental development in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Act 6.2 – System piloting – A3 (A) – Experimental development in effective collaboration or dissemination of results

Act 6.3 – Dissemination – D – Support activities (Dissemination; Participation in technical-scientific events; Participation in courses; Organization of courses; Working visits)

Act 6.4 – Patent – B1 – Innovation activities – patent protection

The main objective of the project is to apply a holistic approach for decreasing the GHG emissions derived from intensive livestock farming by optimizing the livestock production. For doing this, the consortium will monitor the animal feed, the animal behaviour and characteristics and the stable environment. Specifically, IoT devices will be installed in the farm for monitoring key parameters of I) the stable environment (temperature, humidity, gas sensors (NOx, COx, CH4, NH3, etc.), II) the animal (accelerometer, motion sensor, weight sensor, etc.) and III) the feed (flow sensor, weight sensor, humidity sensor etc.).

A web based platform was developed in order to collect and analyse all the aforementioned data for providing recommendations to the livestock farming stakeholders (farmers, consultants etc) in order to take management decisions for reducing GHG emissions. In addition, BlockChain Technology (BCT) is used in the platform to ensure different features such as data protection, data privacy, data sharing, traceability and smart contracts among the livestock farming stakeholders. Specifically, the smart contracts feature of the platform can help livestock farming stakeholders to have contracts with better prices due to decreased GHG emissions.

Dissemination activities:

2020

  • Knowledge4Innovation Forum –  3-5 February 2020 at the European Parliament in Brussels;
  • Debate on air quality monitoring networks in Romania – 13th February 2020 at the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests in Bucharest;
  • CCW – 2-5 March in Berlin, Germany;
  • HorizonEU event –  3rd March 2020 in Bucharest, Romania;Civic Labs – 3rd March 2020 in Bucharest, Romania;
  • Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests Meeting – March 10, 2020 at the headquarters of the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests.

Papers:

  • P. Niloofar, D. P. Francis, S. Lazarova-Molnar, A. Vulpe, G. Suciu, M. Balanescu, Modeling and Simulation For Decision Support In Precision Livestock Farming, paper accepted at the Winter Simulation Conference on 13-16 December in Orlando, Florida, USA.M.

  • Balanescu, A. Badicu, G. Suciu, A. Vulpe, C. Poenaru, A. Pasat, Decision support platform for intelligent and sustainable farming, to be evaluated for the IEEE 26th International Symposium for Design and Technology in Electronic Packaging (SIITME), 21-24 October 2020.

  • M. Dobrea, A. Bădicu, M. Barbu, O. Șubea, M. Bălănescu, G. Suciu, C. Dobre, A. Bîrdici, O. Orza, Machine Learning algorithms for air pollutants forecasting, to be evaluated for the IEEE 26th International Symposium for Design and Technology in Electronic Packaging (SIITME), 21-24 October 2020.

  • Balanescu, M., Badicu, A., Suciu, G., Poenaru, C., Pasat, A., Vulpe, A. and Vochin, M., 2020. Decision support platform for intelligent and sustainable farming. 2020 IEEE 26th International Symposium for Design and Technology in Electronic Packaging (SIITME).

  • Dobrea, M., Badicu, A., Barbu, M., Subea, O., Balanescu, M., Suciu, G., Birdici, A., Orza, O. and Dobrea, C., 2020. Machine Learning algorithms for air pollutants forecasting. 2020 IEEE 26th International Symposium for Design and Technology in Electronic Packaging (SIITME).

  • P. Niloofar, D. P. Francis, S. Lazarova-Molnar, A. Vulpe, M. Vochin, G. Suciu, M. Balanescu, V. Anestis, T. Bartzanas, Data-Driven Decision Support in Precision Livestock Farming: Overview of Existing Practices and Approaches. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture¸ 2020.

2021

  • BLOCKS webinar 25 March
  • Eureka Global Innovation Summit 18-20May
  • Bucharest Tech Week 21-23 May
  • Agrifood Innovation Summit 26 May
  • WorldCIST Conference
  • FIWARE SMART FEST 8-10 June
  • Smart City Solutions Management Platforms 8 June
  • European Research and Innovation Days 23-24 June
  • Scientific Simposium 29 July
  • GoTech World 10-11 November

Papers

  • Pastea, D., Draghici, D., Suciu, G., Balanescu, M., Iordache, G., Vintilă, A., Vulpe, A., Vochin, M., Dragulinescu, A., 2021. DecisionSupport Platform for Intelligent and Sustainable Farming. WorldCIST 2021, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-72654-6_39
  • Niloofar, P., Francis, D., Lazarova-Molnar,S., Vulpe, A., Vochin, M., Suciu, G., Balanescu, M., Anestis, V. and Bartzanas,T., 2021. Data-driven decision support in livestock farming for improved animalhealth, welfare and greenhouse gas emissions: Overview and challenges.Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 190, p.106406,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106406, FI = 5,56
  • Popa,R., Popa, D., Mărginean, G., Suciu, G., Bălănescu, M., Paștea, D., Vulpe, A.,Vochin, M. and Drăgulinescu, A., 2021. Hybrid Platform for Assessing AirPollutants Released from Animal Husbandry Activities for Sustainable LivestockAgriculture. Sustainability, 13(17), p.9633, https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179633, FI= 3,25

2022

  • SusAn Final Conference 25-26 January
  • 3rd FACCE ERA-GAS 2-3 March
  • European Sustainable Nutrient Initiative – ESNI 29 March
  • TechExpo 17-19 June

  • ITEA Smart Systems Engineering Workshop 7 April
  • AIOTI IG DLT Report Conference 6 July

Papers

  • Razvan Alexandru Popa, Dana Catalina Popa, Elena Narcisa Pogurschi, Livia Vidu, Monica Paula Marin, George Suciu, Mihaela Bălănescu, Sabina Burlacu, Radu Budulacu, Alexandru Vulpe, Evaluation of the dynamics of animal husbandry air pollutant emissions using a hybrid decision support platform for farms, Animals magazine.

The total value of the contract: 658.861,00 lei / 139.000,00 Euro Project start date: 01/10/2019 Project end date: 30/09/2022 Duration: 36 luni Consortium:

  1. Agricultural and Environmental Solutions – AGENSO – Greece (Coordinator)BEAM INNOVATION – BEAM – RomaniaUniversity of Southern Denmark – SDU – DenmarkBEIA Consult International – BEIA – RomaniaAgricultural University of Athens – AUA – Greece

Acknowledgement“This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CCCDI – UEFISCDI, project number ERANET-ERAGAS-ICT-AGRI3-FarmSusteinaBl-2, within PNCDI III”.

Official Website

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