The goal of a Hack@Organic is to bring together a multidisciplinary cohort of researchers, designers, developers, and agricultural practitioners to develop equitable, open source technical infrastructure that enables research, adoption, and evaluation of organic agricultural practices.
What is the need?
Organic farmers are banned from using common conventional materials such as most synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, therefore, the tools available to tackle common agricultural challenges are limited. Agricultural technology (AgTech) could provide sustainable, organic-compliant methods to overcome organic obstacles, but there need to be more organic-AgTech collaborations. In addition to this need, the diversity of organic farming operations presents the need for AgTech discussions to include issues such as accessibility of technology for small and/or low-income farms, equity around tech use and adoption, and inclusion of marginalized farming communities in the development of AgTech.
Who is hosting the event?
The Organic Center and GOAT, Gathering for Open Agricultural Technology. More information about these organisations featured to the right.
What are the challenge areas?
The drafted challenge areas include:
Organic compliance and record keeping: Organic operations are required to track detailed information for organic certification and compliance. This type of software could streamline tracking for compliance (e.g. sensors on cows to track pasture time).
Supply chain traceability: Innovative software focused on documentation of farm management decisions can manage everything from crop plans and inputs, to tracking costs and sales. This technology may be especially helpful for diversified crop operations, which are common for organic farming operations. Farm-to-table block chain technology can enable secure traceability of a product along the entire supply chain and assist in fraud prevention. This would also be critical for addressing and overcoming disturbances in the food flow from field to consumer.
Tracking ecosystem service goals: Ensuring that a farm is supporting a healthy ecosystem requires tracking of sustainability goals. These tools would target variables such as soil health, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, etc.
Robotic and sensing technologies: Robotic and sensing technologies that can reduce the labor burden for organic farmers by addressing issues such as on-farm monitoring, weed control and harvest. New robotic technologies are being developed to automate activities such as pruning and harvest. Sensing technologies such as drones and remote monitoring devices (e.g. temperature sensors with monitoring software for compost piles) can optimize resource use on farms of all sizes by providing high resolution, real time data that can be used to monitor pests, pathogens and weeds, track soil health and irrigation needs, and estimate crop yields.
Innovative machinery that improves efficiency and cost effectiveness: For example, a recent study by Frasconi et al. (2019) found that combining flaming and roller crimping was the most effective and sustainable way to terminate cover crops without tillage. Additionally, a current machine developed in Australia called the Harrington Seed Destructor simultaneously vacuums and pulverizes weed seeds as a non-chemical method of weed control. It is currently being testing in limited locations in the US.
Further information
Links
Organic-center.org: Hack@Organic event page
goatech.org: GOAT homepage