www.foodtechnology.co.nz 17
TALKS ON
EXPORTS
START
measurements, understanding the
provenance of a product—from things
like how much water was used, to how
much energy was consumed to produce
the product—is becoming more and more
critical. However, to get this level of detailed
information, the industry is challenged with
developing processes that enable precise
data collection, open and accessible data
formats, and detailed traceability history.
Technology is an enabler of those
transparency solutions. For example,
blockchain allows for the creation of a
distributed ledger to document and share
Projects Claudia
Röessler is involved
with around the world
include:
An Australian project
using sensors to
predict severe weather
events, saving huge
money on crop losses
which could potentially
help New Zealand
kiwifruit farmers
In New Zealand,
Schneider Electric and
WaterForce partnered
with Microsoft to drive
sustainable farming by
conserving resources
through a new Internet
of Things mobile system
called SCADAfarm.
In fact, New Zealand’s
Blackhills farm is
realising 30% savings
in water utilisation
and a 50% reduction
in energy costs using
the system, installed
in 2017
Microsoft’s AI for Earth
programme, giving
money to organisations
around the world focusing
on sustainable
food production using
AI, has so far granted
funding for more than
35 organisations
Precision agriculture
devices that enable
farmers to forecast
yields years ahead
(even five years), reducing
the uncertainty
of peaks and troughs
and enabling forward
planning.
records with the assurance that these
records cannot be manipulated. It is a
powerful tool to combat fraud and drive
accountability and transparency. It also
provides the ability to keep track of a
product provenance and sustainability KPIs
such as water and emission scores.
Mars Food is doing some amazing work
here. To enable visibility into its supply
chain (with an end goal of sourcing rice
more sustainably by 2020), Mars worked
with SGS, Blippar and Transparency-
One to create an end-to-end supply
chain transparency solution. Built on
Microsoft Azure’s Blockchain Services, the
Transparency-One tool manages a range
of data including: complete supply chain
mapping, product integrity information,
supplier compliance details and regulatory
compliance documentation.
This solution allows Mars to ensure better
food quality and sustainability from seed to
fork by providing full transparency to the
consumer in terms of where the product
comes from and how it’s been transported
and treated.
Ensuring food traceability also requires a
safe environment for sharing data securely.
Microsoft is working with customers to
do this today through technologies that
enable secure data vaults. This means that
all participants across the agriculture value
chain can share data by defining policies
that determine what data is shared, what
encryption is applied, what rules have been
defined and what the desired outcome
looks like.
We see blockchain and trusted data
sharing as two key priorities that will
support the food and agriculture value
chain of the future. In order to help the
industry build these kinds of high-value
standards, Microsoft recently joined the
World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD), with the goal of
determining and achieving benchmarks in
how we measure the impact of agriculture
and food production in a sustainable
manner.
Next to food waste and loss, food safety
is another challenge. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
estimates that each year 48 million people
in the United States get sick from a
foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalised
and 3000 die. According to the IARC
Working Group, 500 million people in
developing countries are at risk of chronic
exposure to a highly carcinogenic mold
called aflatoxin throughout their lifetime.
In Kenya, only 20% of corn is safe for
human consumption due to aflatoxin
contamination.
Recently, our partner Bühler launched an
incredible breakthrough that is making a
significant impact on this problem. Noted
as a “remarkable technology that will
diminish a global cancer threat” by Forbes,
Bühler’s LumoVision solution is a datadriven
optical grain sorter that is connected
to Azure for data analysis. It uses powerful
cameras and ultraviolet lighting to hunt
for hidden infections, sorting good corn
from bad corn. The system is such a
breakthrough and fits so well with the
company’s mission to reduce waste
and increase food safety, that Bühler is
planning to get it to market by year-end, in
half the time it would normally take.
Besides these hidden health hazards, the
Digital Pest Management division of Bayer
is taking care of safe environments and
preventing hazards in food production like
rodents, which can also be a leading source
of food contamination. Droppings from mice
and rats can spread dangerous diseases and
viruses, such as Salmonellosis (a type of
food poisoning spread by rodent faeces) and
Rat-Bite Fever (a potentially fatal infectious
disease spread by infected rodents or the
consumption of food contaminated by
rodents).
Bayer has recently introduced its Digital
Pest Management Services Platform, which
includes an innovative rodent monitoring
system that retrofits existing rodent traps
with sensors and relaying data—such as
whenever a trap gets shut—to immediately
notify pest management professionals of a
rodent capture. In the past, a rodent could
remain undiscovered in a trap for as long as
a week or a month until the trap is manually
inspected. The service provider has no way
of knowing when the rodent was captured
and cannot quickly respond to get to the
root cause and head off further infestation.
As the world’s population increases and
we are challenged to grow more food with
less resources, we simply cannot ignore the
urgent need to strengthen our food security
and safety measures.
We must change our current model in
terms of how we produce and distribute
our food. At Microsoft, we see the answer
to this lies with technology. Technology is
what will connect our ecosystems, bring
new insights and build new innovations that
will help us farm the past as we rewrite the
future.
To learn more about Microsoft’s
work in precision agriculture, follow
Claudia Röessler on Twitter at (@
ClaudiaRoessler) and LinkedIn. Röessler
attended the 10 Billion Mouths
conference in Tauranga last month, and
spoke to a range of agricultural giants
from Fonterra to Zespri. She met with
MBIE officials, the Ministry of Primary
Industries and Economic Development
Minister David Parker.
Removing barriers to trade in goods
and services is the aim of talks between
EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia
Malmström and New Zealand Minister
for trade and export growth David
Parker, which officially launched last
week. The talks will also develop trade
rules to make trade easier and more
sustainable, and come on the heels
of negotiations with Australia; the
conclusion of talks with Mexico; the
finalisation of agreements with Japan
and Singapore; and the EU-Canada
agreement which started late last year.
Malmström says agreements are not
only about economic opportunities but
also about strengthening ties with close
allies. “In New Zealand, we know that
we have a partner who stands up for the
same vital values as us. This agreement
will also be an excellent opportunity
to set ambitious new rules, and is an
excellent opportunity to set ambitious
common rules and shape globalisation,
making trade easier while safeguarding
sustainable development. We can lead
by example.” The first formal round of
negotiations between the respective
sides’ teams of negotiators will take
place in Brussels from July 16 to 20.
Bilateral trade in goods between the EU
and New Zealand stood at €8.7bn last
year, and the EU is New Zealand’s third
biggest trade partner. It is expected that
the agreement could increase overall
trade in goods by almost 50%.
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
