Aerobotics has partnered with The Co-op to help 1 300 Eastern Cape farms mitigate damage to their crops from pests and diseases.
Using drone and satellite data, Cape Town-based Aerobotics provides farmers with pest and disease management systems for tree crop protection. It processes data from drone and satellite imagery through its artificial intelligence software to discover and analyse problems, pests and diseases affecting individual trees or vines on a farm.
Established in 1944, The Co-op describes itself as an agricultural business that delivers innovative client services to ensure their profitability. It operates in the Tsitsikamma, Sundays River Valley, Fish River Valley, Gamtoos Valley, Uitenhage, East London, Port Elizabeth, Bathurst, Qamata, Humansdorp and Kareedouw areas.
According to a statement, the partnership will see Aerobotics provide its edge tree crop analytics technology and software to farms that are members of The Co-op.
The farmers will be able to utilise their relevant Co-op account to purchase Aerobotics' services, meaning they have the option to pay for the advanced tree crop analytics.
"We are proud to take our partnership with the farming community to the next level through this agreement with The Co-op," says 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."
Jannie Louw, The Co-op COO, describes the 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."
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