On 10th July 2024, the first webinar dedicated to the creation of the Polish Innovation Hub (IH) took place at the Poznan University of Life Sciences (PULS) as part of the Food4CE Project implemented in the Department of Law and Enterprise Management in Agribusiness Organisation. The main goal of the webinar was to foster collaboration between different stakeholders, including researchers, business experts, food producers, logistics operators and policy makers. The theme of the meeting was “Developing Short Supply Chains for Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), challenges and opportunities in logistics”.
The meeting focused on the identification of logistics solutions, collaboration, networking opportunities and financing solutions for Alternative Food Networks.
Invited guests were:
- Jarosław Mila from Grześkiewicz Dezynfekcja, a producer of organic granulated chicken manure fertiliser.
- Wojciech Styburski, president of Agrointegration, an agricultural consultancy and advisory company.
- Maciej Zacharczuk, Head of the ICT Department at WODR in Poznań, who presented on innovative technologies and digital solutions in agriculture.
In the first speech, Karol Wajszczuk focused on presenting the main objectives of the Food4CE project being implemented, with the participation of foreign partners, with the University of Maribor as lead partner. In particular, he introduced the audience to the scope of activities of the newly established Regional Innovation Hub.
In the second presentation, Wojciech Styburski discussed the objectives of the Consortium-EPI. In addition to AgroIntegracja, this consortium includes smallholders farmers, researchers and processing companies. During the webinar, the basic objectives of the Consortium were then discussed, including antibiotic reduction, GMO-free nutrition, increasing productivity, CO2 reduction, private standard, increasing market positioning. The presentation concludes with the main pillars of the future strategy, such as:
- running a 1,000-sow farm
- building a biogas plant
- independence from imported piglets
- building a stable position as an integrated producer on the market
- sustainable development of family farms.
Maciej Zacharczuk’s third presentation discussed innovative technologies and digital solutions in agriculture that can benefit farmers both in the region and across the country. Services are located on the eDWIN platform and include virtual farm, product traceability, risk reporting, and provision of meteorological data. In addition, drone-based advisory services such as biological protection of maize, damage estimation (e.g. hunting), field mapping, and thermal imaging of buildings were presented.
The last presentation by Jaroslaw Mila included an analysis of the agricultural market in Poland, in terms of fertiliser demand. Investment assumptions for the production of granular organic fertiliser were then discussed, in terms of technology and finished product logistics.
The next Webinar on the topic of the Innovation Hub will take place on September 11th, from 9.00 – 10.30 a.m. More details will follow.