L-R: Arne van Aalst, Koppert and Dr. Saber Miresmailli, Ecoation.

A cooperation agreement has been signed between Koppert Biological Systems, Netherlands and Canadian-based Ecoation at the recent Greentech Fair in Amsterdam. The goal is to share knowledge for better data collection in the monitoring process of crop health in greenhouses.

“We want to create sensors together to better detect pests and diseases in various crops,” said sales director of North West Europa, Arne van Aalst. 

“Detecting pests and diseases at early stages, providing comprehensive and local information about individual plants and their environment as well as using automated local treatment with biological control agents can significantly enhance integrated pest management success,” said founder and CEO of Ecoation, Dr. Saber Miresmailli, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.  

Koppert, a biological crop protection company, is involved in selecting and developing effective artificial intelligence (AI) systems to monitor and analyze pests and diseases in various crops. The company is launching Natutec Scout in September. This smart mobile application gives instant insight into the IPM status of a greenhouse. The app won the prestigious GreenTech Innovation Award at the International GreenTech Fair in Amsterdam.

For its part, Ecoation focuses on AI-driven autonomous crop management and sensing based on robotic, sensing and imaging technology and AI/machine learning. Last year, Ecoation, together with Metazet-FormFlex and Micothon, won the GreenTech Concept Award for the IRIS! Scoutrobot. This robot registers plant health and diseases in greenhouses. The technology is based on the patented Saber sensor that detects pests, diseases and deficiencies early in the crop cycle.  

Source:  Koppert Biological Systems June 13, 2019 news release