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At the Salon International de l'Agriculture, the call for projects dedicated to digital innovation, organized by Terres Inovia, Sofiprotéol and La ferme digitale, named its two 2026 winners on Thursday February 26. The event also featured a round-table discussion on the importance of digital technology in agro-ecological transitions.
The call for projects from Terres Inovia, La ferme digitale and Sofiprotéol aims to develop the emergence of digital solutions to accelerate the agroecological transition of oilseeds by mobilizing the AgTech start-up ecosystem.
This year, three themes have been identified to select the start-ups that could benefit from the overall endowment of 250,000 euros from the sector's interprofessional contributions:
- Adapting to the effects of climate change
- Improving traceability at all levels, to enhance the value of agricultural practices
- Managing pests and diseases
Bird damage: an intelligent, autonomous bird barker
The start-up Belver Oleopro, one of the two winners of the call for projects, aims to respond to a major and as yet unresolved problem for farmers: bird damage, which can lead to plots being turned over. " Farmers have been dealing with this problem for a long time without any real solution, because species are quick to adapt: a new approach was needed ", explains Audric Strumpler, founder of Belver Oleopro.
His idea? A scarecrow designed as an autonomous drone capable of monitoring and repelling species. " Artificial intelligence will identify harmful species, 24 hours a day, and repel them. This concept offers real peace of mind to farmers, while respecting local biodiversity ".
This new-generation bird deterrent is being deployed on a trial basis at eight customer sites, with teams of expert remote pilots supervising the activity. Over a two-year period, the drones will be deployed in the field to observe bird damage and refine scaring sequences. Support from the call for projects will enable the start-up to " develop artificial intelligence in the drone and move from a prototype to a solid product ".
Climate change: an OAD to model its impact on yields
Droughts, floods, fires... faced with these increasingly unpredictable climatic excesses, farmers are struggling to establish yield projections for their crops. Serge Zaka, from Agroclimat2050, and Maximilien Rouer, from Adaptations, are designing an OAD, Resolpro, to model the impact of climate change on oilseed crop yields, in order to assess the effectiveness of adaptation strategies. " This tool would enable growers to manage their plantings, varieties or sowing dates, for example, and project multi-year yields ", explains Maximilien Rouer.
This OAD will take the form of " a cartography, the most precise in the world, which will give the current situation of agriculture, integrating the most interesting practices per km2 in a context of climate change. The aim is to offer farmers a map of practices, as well as yield variability and how to reduce it, based on 10 climate models and 16 scenarios ", adds Serge Zaka, Chairman of Agroclimat 2050.
Round-table discussion: digital innovation for transitions
La ferme digitale organized a round-table discussion as part of the award ceremony, in which Terres Inovia took part. Here's a selection.
- Julie Auque, Director of Data and Digital Innovation at Terres Inovia
" With this call for projects, we have opted for digital leverage to help producers in the field. Terres Inovia acts as a link between research and needs in the field, by testing whether these innovations are operational and deployable by farmers ".
- Antoine Daulton, Director of Innovation and Supply Chain, Sofiprotéol
" Innovation is a differentiating factor in preparing for the future; it's the industry's DNA. It is financed by the Fonds d'Actions Stratégique pour les Oléagineux et les Protéagineux, which is based on inter-professional contributions from farmers ".
- Jean-René Menier, farmer
"It' s important that these innovations are rooted in the field. Today, for example, if we're talking about weather forecasts, what interests the farmer is the reliability of the forecasts, so that he can carry out these agronomic operations in complete safety ".
- Benoît Fortineau, executive recruiter at Synovivo
" With this call for projects, start-ups can put their concept to the test in the field, as they have access to a wide network of players in the agricultural world. It's a real added value for entrepreneurs.
