Bringing smart agriculture solutions to
farmers and agri-businesses

17 November, 2020 - AGRIVI, a global agtech company with the market leading farm management platform has secured 4 million EUR series A Round led by South Central Ventures, European Investment Fund and Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Fil Rouge Capital and AgriTech Hub also participated in the round. The funding will enable AGRIVI to expand its market reach in key European markets and United States. AGRIVI farm management software is one of the most comprehensive farm management platforms on the market. The platform supports farms and agri-food companies in reaching economically and environmentally sustainable crop production. The financing round builds on an exceptional period for AGRIVI, where the company saw a rapidly growing roster of clients, key executive appointments, market recognition and market momentum as food and agriculture were put under the spotlight. Major market researches position AGRIVI among key global leaders in the farm management industry and its customer portfolio grew to include brands such as Nestle, Driscoll’s, Kimberly-Clark and BNP Paribas among many others. A global consulting company EY recommends AGRIVI’s solutions as the fast-impact project for governments to improve local food sustainability and reduce climate impact on a national level. “AGRIVI has made an impressive progress since our initial investment back in 2016. They have positioned themselves on a global map of the leading agtech companies as one of the leading farm management platforms. I’m also thrilled that European Investment Fund identified this opportunity and participated in our first direct co-investment. I believe the funds from this financial round will enable AGRIVI to accelerate their activities on multiple business areas and consequently facilitate the global impact on the healthy food production,” stated Jure Mikuz, lead investor in the round and Managing Partner at South Central Ventures. “Strong progress in the last period and extraordinary customers we support have prepared us for the next stage of our growth. We are thankful to South Central Ventures, European Investment Fund, Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Fil Rouge Capital and AgriTech Hub for supporting us in our mission to digitalize the global agriculture. The recent global happenings have put additional spotlight on the food and agriculture, so the interest of investors for AGRIVI is strong and we are considering to extend the round with additional round closing,” stated Matija Zulj, CEO and founder at AGRIVI.   -- All Investor Statements -- European Investment Fund (EIF) Statement Alain Godard, EIF Chief Executive said: “I’m delighted to see that the EIF`s strategic equity investments in Croatia, working alongside HBOR, are delivering results and empowering Croatian companies to grow and compete on the global markets, creating jobs and fuelling faster economic development. It’s important, during these difficult times, that we continue to support ambitious, innovative businesses across Europe. We are impressed with AGRIVI and its achievements and proud to be a part of their success as much as we are proud of the results of our partnership with HBOR and its impact on Croatia.” Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) Statement  “We are proud that HBOR had the opportunity to support Croatian company which has became an agtech leader in only seven years. The investment in AGRIVI was made together with EIF through CROGIP program that encourages the availability of venture capital for Croatian entrepreneurs. We are glad Fil Rouge Capital fund also participated in this investment, who has been supported from HBOR while they were starting with their operations. The success of AGRIVI is an excellent example how strong growth and exports to the world markets can be achieved in niches and sectors that until just a few years ago almost did not exist. The potential of the Croatian economy is in innovative companies with global ambitions, where AGRIVI is an excellent example," said Tamara Perko, President of the Management Board at HBOR. Fil Rouge Capital (FRC) Statement “AGRIVI has been strengthening its position on the market in the past few years. Their experience is meeting the market maturity, thus making the strong use case and product-market-fit which is the most important prerequisite for the scale-up phase. We are very happy to be part of this investment round creating a firm cornerstone of AGRIVI's future. We believe in their success and their role in reaching an economically and environmentally sustainable crop production world,” Stevica Kuharski, Principal at Fil Rouge Capital. AgriTech Hub Statement “The AGRIVI Farm Management Platform is a response to a global trend, namely digitalisation in agriculture. AGRIVI enables the analysis of precise data, which is particularly important for the industry. Another crucial element for consumers is traceability, which is the possibility of checking the origin of a product. In AgriTech Hub, we are looking for solutions which will make agricultural processes really effective. We consider AGRIVI to be not only practical, but also an innovative solution that will help to manage production. We are also looking forward to working with the funds that believed in AGRIVI together with us and invested in the platform. We believe in the dynamic development of the company in the near future with a great chance for global success,” Marcin Woźniak, CEO at AgriTech Hub.   -- General Information-- AGRIVI is a global agtech company founded in 2013. With offices in London, Bucharest, Zagreb and Warsaw, the company supports agri-food companies in 100+ countries. More information can be found at www.agrivi.com. South Central Ventures (SCV) is the leading venture capital management company in western Balkans, dedicated primarily to early stage and growth investments in tech startups to fuel their international business expansion and growth. More information can be found at www.sc-ventures.com. European Investment Fund (EIF) is the largest European investor in venture and growth capital funds. Since 1994, the EIF has committed more than €17 billion in close to 700 venture and growth capital funds. By co-investing with successful venture capital fund managers alongside their funds, EIF targets innovative SMEs and Mid-Caps in their expansion and internationalisation phase. EIF’s investment in AGRIVI was made in partnership with Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) through CROGIP program. More information can be found at www.eif.org and at www.hbor.hr. Fil Rouge Capital (FRC) is the € 45 million investment fund focused on early stage businesses from pre-seed, seed and Series A of investment. More information can be found at www.filrougecapital.com.  AgriTech Hub is a Venture Capital Fund with investment interests in modern solutions within the scope of high-tech for the agriculture and food sector and entire value-added chain in agriculture and agricultural practice. Its mission is to support innovation, applicable at the growing, production and distribution stages, all the way to the commercial end customer. More information can be found at www.agritechhub.com.  -- Photo -- 

Experts state that seed quality often directly correlates with a farmer’s crop yield. High-quality seeds are superior to other seed varieties in physiological purity and are usually free from seed-borne diseases. For those unfamiliar with the agricultural industry, you can determine seed quality through a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If agriculture industry leaders deliberately overlook seed quality, there can be devastating consequences, including the following: food insecurity, tanking farm profits, and spiking produce costs. With these high stakes in mind, it’s worth investing in a high-quality seed. Otherwise, we should prepare for a domino effect of financial instability down the farm-to-consumer supply chain. While deciding on the seed type utilized lies within a farmer’s jurisdiction, forces out of farmers’ control, such as climatic changes, can impact the seed’s quality. Much like climatic shifts, sudden disease outbreaks can also have a tremendous impact on a farmer’s crop yield. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected global crop production and interfered with the farm-to-consumer supply chain. Although the coronavirus doesn’t directly alter soil composition or inhibit crop growth, mandatory quarantine procedures have radically transformed our eating habits. Since medical professionals consider indoor dining to be a high-risk activity, the average person’s dependency on conventional grocery stores has skyrocketed, modifying the supply chains used. Additionally, with unemployment at an all-time high, consumer’s weekly spending budgets have plummeted. With less money to spend, the demand for produce and dairy products faces an unfortunate downward spiral, causing farmers to lose profits. To combat these adverse effects, farmers should consider investing in high-quality seeds to improve their crop yield and alleviate the burden of worrying about poor crop health. For example, pollinator blends from reputable providers like Nature's seed can generate the ultimate pollinator habitats. Because we depend on these pollinators for a third of our food production, high-quality pollinator seed mixes are a must. Are you curious as to how a higher-quality seed variety can improve crop yield? If so, read on. Characteristics of high-quality seeds Before we jump into how these seeds can increase crop yield, it's essential to understand the main attributes of high-quality seeds. For one, a high-quality crop seed must have the required degree of physical purity while maintaining the desired genetic purity. In layman’s terms, foundation seeds must be at least 99.5 percent genetically pure. On the other hand, breeder seed should be 100 percent; certified hybrid castor – 85 percent; certified hybrid seeds – 95 percent; certified hybrid cotton – 90 percent genetic purity. Quality seed is free from designated diseases One can define designated crop diseases as those diseases spread by planting infected seeds. These pathogens may cause seed contamination, resulting in lesions on petioles, pods, flowers, leaf tips, and margins. Some of these seed-borne diseases include grain smut of pearl millet, the early blight of tomato, and Kernel smut of sorghum. Loose smut of wheat, Ergot of Bajra, and the little leaf of brinjal. Low-quality seeds are mostly affected by these diseases, which can lead to low crop yield. In contrast, high-quality seed varieties are free from seed-borne diseases, leading to increased crop production. With optimal crop production, struggling local farmers can satisfy consumer demand with greater ease. High-quality seed varieties are free from weed seed Farmers should expect to find unwanted, harmful weed seeds buried in their crop seed supply. Most of these weed seeds resemble crop seeds in size and shape, making it difficult to distinguish the two. While seemingly harmless, these weed seeds usually compete for crop resources, affecting your crops in many ways. In some cases, these weed seeds can poison animals/human consumers and act as an alternative host for various diseases and pests. Examples of these weed seeds may include Convolvulus arvensis, wild paddy, wild lettuce, and Wild cucurbits spp. When purchasing your seeds, it’s crucial to consider its purity. Often, experts assess a seed’s purity by the level of unwanted substances present in the crop seed. Harmful materials such as inert matter, unwanted crop seed, and weed seed can reduce the seed quality, affecting harvest quantities and increasing production costs. Remember that if you buy crop seed that isn't properly conditioned, you may need to purchase herbicides to keep potential weeds and pests at bay. Be sure to factor these additional costs into your budget. High germination and vigor Seed germination tests examine the seed's ability to grow into a sturdy plant when planted under favorable conditions. These tests are often performed for a predetermined time under laboratory conditions to ensure optimum temperature, light, and moisture. Seeds that have low germination are usually less vigorous because of seed deterioration. Moreover, seed deterioration leads to the loss of viability, causing crop seeds with low germination to be less vigorous. Similarly, seeds with poor germination produce weaker seedlings, reducing average crop yields. It’s essential to note that you can’t associate low vigor with select seed species, especially the native grasses characterized by inherently low germination. Free from other crop seeds Depending on the weight percentage of other inseparable seeds in your crop seed, your crop yield may suffer at the hands of these different seed varieties. If not adequately contained, farmers will often cultivate unwanted seeds in the seed fields, as they are often similar in appearance and hard to separate mechanically. In most situations, farmers will notice this mixture when the seeds germinate and mature. Unfortunately for those in the agriculture industry, those other crop seeds can compete for your crop seed resources, affecting crop production. Final word For that matter, when buying high-quality seed, ensure you purchase it from a reputable seed provider with the necessary experience in producing and conditioning seed stocks. During seed production, ensure appropriate isolation, adequate fertilization/water usage, and timely harvest. Following these steps can result in quality produce and increased yield.

COVID-19 pandemic is already causing debilitating effects in virtually every industry of the global economy. Unfortunately, the agricultural sector is no exception and hasn’t been left unscathed. For those who don’t identify as agriculture workers, the pandemic poses a significant threat to food security, especially in economies where the agriculture model is labor-intensive. Travel restrictions are hindering the mobility of labor and disrupting labor-dependent production as active cases skyrocket. In light of these changes, preserving usable crops is all the more critical for struggling farmers. Those in the agriculture sector need to search for pest control companies specializing in agricultural pest control services. Otherwise, these pests will continue to harm vulnerable local farming communities. Effects of pests on crops Pest species, including insects, rodents, and birds, can wreak havoc on farmers’ crops. To mitigate damage and remain competitive, consider pursuing professional pest control services. Crop damage Pests can cause devastating effects on crops. How so? For one, these insects and rodents feast on the crops’ leaves, fruits, and roots, leading to the eventual death of your profit-yielding produce. Insects (like aphids) can also transmit harmful bacteria, fungi, or viral infections to your crops, resulting in comparable damage. Looking at rodents specifically, these scurrying rats and mice can cause untold damage to your crops, especially during the harvest season. Other rodents like moles feed on the plant’s roots causing substantial physical damage and skewing agriculture industry leaders’ crop yields. Damage to finished products Pest species like weevils, rats, and mice don’t discriminate when hunting for food sources. Much like these rodents target sprouting crops, they similarly flock to finished products stored for sale or consumption. Other insects like moths and beetles can contaminate food, making it unfit for human consumption. If you’re struggling to tell whether your finished products are under siege, keep your eyes peeled for holes in grains, insects’ tracks in the floury dust, fecal deposits, and webbing produced by larvae of moths. Typically, grains become warmer when infected, resulting in damp, moldy grains. Rodents invade barns, sacks, and other storage areas to gnaw on grains and other nearby food sources. As if that’s not enough, these outdoor pests will urinate on your foodstuff, which can lead to the contamination of grains. Furthermore, rodents are well-known for carrying diseases and bacteria. If farm owners don’t neutralize the threat in ample time, they can leave a trail of damage by contaminating foodstuff and surfaces they scamper across. Equipment and machinery damage Rodents (particularly rats and mice) can inflict structural damage to farm buildings and equipment. Using their ever-growing teeth, rodents gnaw at wood, concrete, electrical wires, and even metal, rendering farm equipment immobile or unusable. Damaged equipment leads to stoppages in production, which affects productivity. Following this trail of destruction, inhibited productivity can cause agricultural industry leaders to lag behind their competitors. Pest varieties targeting the agricultural sector Destructive pests come in different kinds. Some destroy your premises, while others, like bed bugs, disturb your sleep. If you happen to dodge these sleep-disrupting and property-damaging pest varieties, rodents will leave disease-ridden waste deposits on your premises. However, the worst insects are the ones that victimize your plant life. Pests can destroy acres of plants, ruining food that could feed hundreds of people. Below is a rundown of the most destructive pests causing chaos in the agriculture industry Locusts Locusts have been well-known culprits of rop damage since as early as 2,000 BC. Today, they are still a considerable threat to plants. When moving in swarms, they migrate from one location to another, leaving skeletonized plants in their wake. Weevils Adult weevils munch on leaves and trunks, and grubs feed on roots, ultimately causing plants’ death. The most affected crop varieties include wheat, maize, coconut, and sorghum. Japanese beetles These beetles have been wreaking havoc in Eastern US farms since 1916, as they can feed on over 300 species of plants. Japanese beetles increase in numbers around June and feed for four to six weeks, leaving behind inconceivable plant damage. Aphids Their favorite menu items include wheat, guava, barley, oats, and chilies. These small, soft-bodied insects are known to suck sap, especially during spring and summer. Severe infestation leads to twisting of leaves, stunted growth, withering, and eventual death of plants. Fruit and shoot borers Their larvae bore into tender plants, leading to the plant’s eventual disintegration. Borers also destroy flowers and blooming fruits. Corn rootworms Corn is a common crop, especially in the Midwest US. Corn rootworms have caused farmers sleepless nights because of their resistance to pesticides. In most cases, these insects will emerge from the ground in June and July, destroying leaves and corn silk. Stink bugs Stink bugs are not only a threat in your home but also to your crops. They feed on stems, leaves, and sap of plants like apples, beans, berries, peaches, sorghum, cotton, and many more. Conclusion Pests can have devastating effects on the agricultural sector while threatening millions of American’s food security. To deter this pest-related damage, devise a thoughtfully-crafted pest control strategy. Consider hiring services of pest control services with long-standing experience to provide comprehensive pest treatment plans.  

Digitization of agriculture is the only way how one can in a short time, even in the first two years of implementation, increase the competitiveness of agricultural production. Most other solutions for improvement of farming productivity give results in long term, often taking over 10 years to see the full effects. Experience shows that farmers increase their profitability from 50 up to 100% already in the first two years of using digital agriculture solutions. Higher earnings supported by digitalization make agriculture more attractive and provide the best motivation for the new generation of farmers to take over the family business and expand their farms. Digitization Prevents Triple Losses on Farms Digital solutions bring great benefits to farmers, as a help to avoid the triple loss a farmer has during the year. The first loss farmers experience is while planning the production. Without precise data on soil quality and actual crop needs, it is impossible to optimally calculate the necessary inputs for the season. Many studies have proven, and we have confirmed with thousands of farmers who are using our software for managing farm production, that digitalization and precision agriculture reduce losses on fertilizers, crop protection, and other inputs in production even up to 30 percent.  The second loss happens is during the season, mostly caused by the wrong judgment of farmers when to apply agricultural practices. Late crop protection against pests and diseases is accountable for even 20 to 40 percent yield losses every year and this is just one factor that impacts the yields. Digital solutions help farmers to make timely decisions based on facts and the real-time situation on fields. For example, AGRIVI software continuously monitors weather conditions on fields and alerts farmers if there is a risk of bad weather or pests and diseases. The third loss farmers experience is while selling the product when the price for their crops depends on actual quality and ability to guarantee food safety. The demand to prove the traceability of food is growing, both from consumers and retail that buy directly from farmers. Farmers need to showcase each product when and where it was planted, how it was treated, and its nutritive value. Without the digitization of each stage of production, it is impossible to show this information transparently. The experience of farmers is present. Digitization removes triple losses in farming production, gives measurable results, and helps farmers make more profit and secure a better life. Implementation of digital solutions is not hard, farmers can start to use them fast no matter the size of their production. AGRIVI farm management software is available on computers and smart mobile phones and it is easy to use. The only habit farmers need is the discipline to regularly enter data and everything else is provided by the platform – from information, the suggestion to warning alarms. The motivation is simple, 50 to 100% more profit in the pocket of farmers. Digital Agriculture AGRIVI software is one of the global leading farm management solutions worldwide used by farmers in over 100 countries. Farmers worldwide use AGRIVI software in the local language and AGRIVI team supports farmers in improving their farm profitability with AGRIVI solutions. Starting with AGRIVI software is simple – farmers just need to register at AGRIVI website, enter their fields and real-time insights from their fields will be visible daily.  

AGRIVI achieved Microsoft Gold Partner status and became a part of the most prestigious software development club in the world. Achieving such status means Microsoft declared that AGRIVI committed itself to evolve Microsoft technologies for the interests of its own needs as well as those of its clients.  This status represents the highest accredited partner for the development of applications through Microsoft technologies and provides AGRIVI exclusive access to Microsoft tools, utilities, and toolkits. Many training programs and tutorials are available at any time, as well as continuous customer support ready to assist if any questions occur. Another great advantage for AGRIVI is the permission to provide Microsoft-based IT products to other businesses or clients, given the fact that AGRIVI provides IT solutions to its users. “We are proud and really excited about this achievement. This is a perfect opportunity for us to take full advantage of the new possibilities gained with this status, thus ensuring continuous development and preserving high-quality standards of our products” – Darko Gebaei, VP Technology @ AGRIVI. AGRIVI team proved its expertise in developing a globally utilized software, where tens of thousands of users from more than 100+ countries worldwide interact with AGRIVI products daily. This recognition also reflects on our excellence and quality in software development via Microsoft technologies, proving the competencies and achieved results in the cloud implementation.

We are thrilled to unveil our new rebranded visual identity. This brand updates showcase our company’s evolution. Over the last few months, we have put our hearts and minds into creating a new visual identity that would represent our growth and strength we have today in agtech industry. We have brainstormed, negotiated and drafted and the result is here where we are now proudly showing you the new identity, still keeping our core values. We have been awarded as the best world startup in 2014, and today AGRIVI is the company with the same mission to make a positive impact on more than a billion lives with digital technologies for agriculture. Still, a lot has changed, we have evolved, the team is more experienced, our product portfolio expanded and today we address the whole food-value chain. So, it was time to refresh visual identity and communicate what we are doing in foodtech. The new visual communication, new logo, and color scheme reflects the mission of AGRIVI. New logo, new color scheme, and visual communication will be applied to all our products, the website as well as to social media. Here is the logo, evolved like our company: from startup, fresh, bright presentation, to represent our growth, strength, and stability: Since color in the logo acts as a company identifier, our green represents stability and fresh ideas. It is important to us that color reflects our connection to agriculture. The combination of green and brown is traditionally associated with the earth, plants, and harmony in nature. We are still the same company, so for our customers, users, and partners the change is only in visual presentation, the quality stays the same. Quality, knowledge, innovation, and strengthening the leader position are pillars we will continue to work on. This is a great foundation for us at AGRIVI because we have other amazing things in preparation. We are really excited and looking forward to seeing what the future holds for us! Visit the website: www.agrivi.com Check out social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter.

Agrivi is pleased to appoint Guillaume Antoine Rabhi as a Chief Digital Officer (CDO). With his experience and knowledge in managing digital innovations, Guillaume brings a wide range of expertise. Since winning the award for the best global startup in 2014, Agrivi has grown to one of the global leading agritech companies that support major agri-food organizations in digitalizing their agriculture activities. As a part of Agrivi’s Management Board, Guillaume will focus on maximizing value provided by Agrivi products to the agri-food companies, while securing scalable product innovation, research, development, and implementation processes. “Digitalization of agriculture is one of the major pillars when it comes to healthy and nutritious food that was grown by applying sustainable agricultural practices. I recognized the strong value Agrivi delivers to its customers worldwide and I will be happy to contribute with my experiences to the continuous company growth.” – Guillaume Rabhi, CDO at Agrivi.    “We are happy to welcome Guillaume to our team. With his valuable experiences of turning ideas into profitable business models, he will strongly contribute to our growth and maintaining the global leading position in the digital agriculture solutions.” – Matija Zulj, CEO at Agrivi. Prior to joining Agrivi, Guillaume held management positions in organizations like RTL Group, Citroens PSA Group, and TF1 Group, and the media and digital industry in France.

Media Release: Zagreb, September 22nd 2020 Digitalization of Agriculture - a Priority of the Strategic Partnership Between Agrivi and Agroklub   Leaders of digital agriculture in the Adriatic region have agreed on a long-term strategic partnership with the aim of accelerating the process of farm digitalization in the region. Agroklub is handing over its eGAP platform to Agrivi's portfolio that becomes richer for another extremely useful product, soon available on the global market. Furthermore, Agroklub, the leading agricultural media house in the region will provide significant support to Agrivi products. With the aim of accelerating the process of implementation of digital agriculture, Agrivi and Agroklub become strategic partners by signing the agreement and thus additionally, position themselves as key leaders in agricultural digitalization in the Adriatic region. With this long-term arrangement, Agrivi brings the eGAP platform into its product portfolio, which will shine on the global market by further investment in development, all in an effort to strengthen the market position of one of the leading agri-technological companies in the world. After signing the agreement, Matija Žulj, founder and director of Agrivi, pointed out: “We have known Agroklub for a long time as the strongest agricultural media house in the region, and as we have always appreciated their work, we are extremely looking forward to this partnership. We have recognized the strong values ​​of the eGAP platform, which fit very well into and complements our digital agricultural product portfolio. Today, Agrivi services are used by large global organizations such as Driscoll's, Nestlé, Kimberly Clark, and other large producers in the agricultural and food industries, said Žulj, explaining the position of the new addition: "With the eGAP platform we plan to address the segment of those farmers that are starting or just have started the process of digitalization and have needs for the basic production records." The partnership includes activities to promote and support the placement of digital solutions for agriculture through online channels in the region. Thus, as part of this agreement, Agroklub will help the goals of the Agrivi product portfolio and continue to strengthen its own position as a leader in the field of agricultural media in the regional online scene. "The agreement is part of our efforts to keep the focus on what we are best at," said Mario Relatić, director of the Agroklub, adding that it is a matter of natural association. "This is a school example of a win-win situation, and we are especially pleased that through Agrivi's great ambitions, eGAP will become part of the global scene." The partnership includes numerous activities, and Vedran Stapić, one of the founders of Agroklub and eGAP, revealed the first operational steps. "By the end of the year, with the support of Agrivi, users will have a completely new version of the eGAP application for documenting agricultural production, and the details and dynamics will be known to all those interested very soon." He also stressed that this is good news for many farmers, but also the domestic technology scene. "I see this as a great moment for both parties, but also for the regional AgTech market, I believe in the satisfaction of users of our services. I am sure that both Agrivi and Agroklub will feel the significant benefits of this arrangement in the medium term ", concluded Stapić.   Media contacts: Agrivi d.o.o.: Anita Flajšlik, Marketing Lead, press@agrivi.com, +385 99 271 1989        Agroklub d.o.o.: Željka Rački-Kristić, zeljka@agroklub.com, +385 91 6300 092

  PHOTO BY CLAUDIO SCHWARZ It is safe to say that the novel coronavirus COVID-19 impacted majority of the world population, and has significantly changed the way we live. People around the globe are forced to act quickly as they gain new facts and government restrictions, and are compelled to make unplanned decisions. How to safely source sufficient amount of food and how to know if the food is safe to eat has become even bigger challenge than ever for consumers around the world.  They are wondering: ”Where can I source a good quality product when my movement is restricted? Is this product safe for my family and me? Can the coronavirus be spread through food? Should I cook differently to kill the potential virus in my groceries?” On the other hand, companies were forced to roll out mandatory work-from-home policies so home office combined with quarantine has become the new normal. While many of us can afford to stay at home, those producing our food can’t – they are more essential than ever. However, sealed borders across the world, quarantines and closed markets have caused disruptions in the food supply chains and a lot of farmers may be forced to destroy a big part of their production because of the impossibility to place their products on the market. Their yearlong hard work is now, in the best-case scenario, jeopardized. At the same time, more than a third of the global population is under lockdown and is trying to stockpile in every possible way. Living in these uncertain and contradictory times when each and every one of us should adopt and master new ways of living, it becomes obvious that the new strategies must be created and adopted by both producers and consumers in order to make it through. However, there seems to be a break in the clouds. Technology is continuously changing the world and our individual lives, and is stepping in once again in order to solve the problem we are facing. As J.F. Kennedy once said, now more than ever before, humanity possesses the resources, technology and knowledge to promote development and to feed all people. ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING IS BLOOMING The fear of contagion is causing consumers to avoid places like supermarkets and other places where people typically congregate. Farmer’s markets around the world are closed. Officials are asking people to only go out when absolutely needed. A question that certainly has risen in every consumer’s mind was: How can I supply my household and prevent from running out of essentials? While online shopping for books, clothes, and electronics has become normal in our everyday life, most customers still prefer to purchase their meat, fruits and vegetables at the store. As Business Insider states, only 10% of US consumers regularly shop online for groceries, while Eurostat conducted research that shows that more than 73% of people still prefer to do every type of shopping in person. However, new circumstances have led to the shift in consumer behaviors, and online grocery shopping is exploding since now it is a place to go. Online shopping seems to be a great solution for both consumers and producers, especially farmers who otherwise wouldn’t be able to sell their products such as fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy. PHOTO BY MARKUS SPISKE Besides providing a digital market place to the farmers, this shift will allow fast and innovative producers to stand out with their products. Moreover, innovations such as Traceability report, will become increasingly important as they help farmers to showcase and share production information with their consumers while giving insight to the consumers into all the aspects of the food they buy. Transparent certification of the food producers, hygiene standards as well as good quality, organic and sustainable food, are now the requirements that are more emphasized than ever. The shift which is happening during this pandemic may reshape the supermarket industry as we know it by helping little producers to make the public familiar with the quality of their products. Despite numerous challenges, there is a silver lining for consumers as well – new circumstances of online grocery shopping inevitably will lead to the bigger control of the food we consume. Which transfer us to the second most asked question: IS THE FOOD WE EAT REALLY SAFE? In addition to worrying about food sufficiency, consumers are concerned about whether they can get the virus by touching or consuming the food they’re buying. Based on the interview with Donald Schaffner, Ph.D., a distinguished professor in the department of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., there is currently no evidence that the disease is transmitted by food. In accordance with his opinion, the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the World Health Organization also point out that food is not known to be a route of transmission of the virus. At this point in time, the highest risk of COVID-19 spread is through human-to-human transmission. PHOTO BY ERIK MCLEAN HOW TO TREAT FOOD? Having in mind that the coronavirus is a respiratory virus, not a digestive or the gastrointestinal one, there should be no difference in handling food now and before the coronavirus. Basically, it all comes down to general good food safety habits. Handwashing remains one of the best protective measures to avoid spreading or contracting the virus, so as always, it is highly recommended to wash your hands while preparing food—and during if you are handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs. As emphasized by GLOBALG.A.P, the use of gloves is not necessarily safer and should comply with the policies already set for glove usage. Remember to wash fruits and vegetables in water before consummation in any way, shape or form. PHOTO BY LOUIS HANSEL As stated by the GLOBALG.A.P in the Answers to Common Questions About Coronavirus and the Food You Eat, coronavirus doesn’t multiply on food, but it is recommended to keep raw meat separate from other foods, using separate cutting boards for meat and vegetables, and using a food thermometer to ensure safe cooking temperatures. You should also refrigerate perishable foods and leftovers promptly and be sure to cook the food you eat, just as you always do. PHOTO BY ELAINE CASAP To conclude, it seems that technology will once again help to overcome the hardship we are facing and bring food to our tables. Digital market places are proving to be the solution for the current problem of closed local markets and quarantined citizens all around the world, whilst washing the food will keep it safe for consumption. We at Agrivi are grateful to all our farmers for their commitment, and very proud to work in the agriculture sector, as well as to have the chance to be an important link between producers and consumers in these difficult times.   Text sources: THE ONLINE GROCERY REPORT - Business Insider E-COMMERCE STATISTICS FOR INDIVIDUALS - European Commission ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS AND THE FOOD YOU EAT – Consumer Reports HOW CAN PRODUCERS ADDRESS COVID-19? – GLOBALG.A.P. Image sources: Unsplash

New Products in Agrivi Digital Agriculture Offering   Agrivi, one of the global market-leading farm management software companies, has announced the launch of new products within its digital agriculture solution offering. The company introduced two new products: Agrivi Precision Field which will support growers to manage their precision agriculture activities Agrivi Farm Fleet for real-time machinery monitoring and automated machinery data collection Newly introduced products are complementary additions to Agrivi's core product, the award-winning farm management software platform, supports farmers to digitize their farm operations, make farm administration easier and achieve economically and environmentally sustainable crop production. It serves as a central platform for all farmers' data and brings powerful farming analytics to identify yield drivers and cost savings. Agrivi farm management platform is available in a simpler version for small and medium sizes growers and as a comprehensive enterprise farm management platform for large-scale farms. The platform is being used by farmers in over 100 countries. „We are on a mission to make a farmer's life easier and more profitable. By introducing two additional products, we aim to reduce the need for manual machinery data entry and make it fully automated. Also, we focus on reducing the number of different software solutions farmers need to use by offering them a full precision agriculture tool completely integrated with the central farm management platform.“ – Matija Zulj, CEO at Agrivi. Agrivi Precision Field is a comprehensive precision agriculture application that empowers farmers with real-time insights into field conditions, offers a multi-layered analysis of all georeferenced field data and allows the creation of management zones and prescription files for execution of precision agriculture practices. Key features of Precision Field product are: Multi-layered map analysis of geo-referenced agricultural data Support for satellite imagery, soil maps, weather maps, crop health maps, scouting observations, yield maps, profitability maps and other Creation of scouting routes based on identified real-time insights Management zone creation for variable rate application Prescription files creation for machinery use Possibility to upload application data and yield maps Agrivi Farm Fleet is a fleet management system that enables farmers to have real-time control over their machinery and fuel usage. The product is fully integrated with Agrivi Farm Management Software and enables automated machinery data collection which eliminates the need for manual entry of machinery usage by tractor drivers or agronomists and improves the accuracy level. Key features of Farm Fleet product are: Farm machinery fleet monitoring in real-time on a map Tracking machinery routes, work hours, fuel consumption and speed Machinery usage log automated synchronization with Agrivi Farm Management Software    New products within Agrivi's product portfolio, Agrivi Precision Field and Agrivi Farm Fleet, are fully integrated with the Agrivi Farm Management platform, providing farmers with seamless user experience and a central platform for managing all farming operations and data. Products are currently launched in a test flight mode with first customers and will be available for all customers for the spring season 2020.

Over the last six years, large-scale farms became one of our major customer segments, as the complexity of their operations and risk they need to handle are the highest. Experiences we gathered through our work with large-scale farms from 2,000 hectares to more than 50,000 hectares enabled us to identify patterns that strongly influence farm management software (FMS) implementations and can determine its success. In this article, I will try to share three decisions that need to be made and that influence the success of FMS implementations. Decision #1: Strong Sponsorship vs. Trying Out Deciding for an implementation of a farm management software on a big-scale farm is a decision that will determine the software support for total farm operations for at least the next 5-10 years. Such a big decision deserves the right attention of the management board and/or farm owners, depending on the level of their involvement in the decision-making process. We have witnessed strong project kick-offs and high-quality project steering where the management board provided strong and dedicated project sponsorship as a sign for all employees that the farm management software plays an important role for their business and providing clear and strong messages resulted in much faster and smoother adoption of the software by all employees. We also experienced some projects where management decided to implement a farm management software with a good will to follow the trends of digital transformation but had a soft approach in communication to their employees like “Let’s try it and we’ll see how it will go, whether it will be useful for us”. If a manager/owner is not fully convinced that farm management software will serve as a backbone of farm operations and deliver important insights, there will be a very few employees in the company that will think differently and engage efforts needed to adapt the software as a daily operations tool. Even if a manager is fully convinced in the value proposition and benefits, but follows a soft approach, employees on a farm very often don’t want to change way of working if they don’t need to and the “Let’s try” approach opens the space for excuses. Such soft approaches often lead to project failure and represent a bad management decision. Every implementation should be started with a strong management sponsorship and a clear understanding of the value proposition and all benefits a company will have from a farm management software, which also needs to be communicated to all stakeholders. Decision #2: Buy vs. Build Farms often tend to think they will make a lower investment if they go with a bespoke farm management software that will be tailored exactly by their needs rather than selecting one of the farm management software products available on the market which usually comes on a subscription business model. One can argue that it is a question of ROI for getting the right solution and I fully agree — it indeed is. Approximately 50% of large-scale farms we work with have replaced their old FMS with our FMS product. A common reason is that they wanted to move away from tailor-built solution where every innovation needs to be ordered and financed by them which brings the total cost of ownership (TCO) too high. Additionally, as technology in which the bespoke solution is built is not maintained and upgraded continuously, it gets phased out in several years making further upgrades less possible and again too expensive. The core business of a farm is not to think about innovating and maintaining an FMS, rather to continuously get innovation pushed to them by a specialized FMS company. Continuous innovation and lower TCO are key reasons why we see a growing number of large-scale farms moving towards FMS platforms that are available on the market. Farms often fall into a trap that their processes are very different and specific comparing to other farms. A good analogy for these situations is an ERP implementation. When implementing an ERP system into an organization, the goal is not just to get a new software support, but to use this as opportunity to align the organization’s processes with common industry accepted processes. FMS platforms available today on the market often offer quite high level of flexibility to track farm processes in multiple ways to fit the majority of farms. It is important that integration possibilities of an FMS platform provide opportunity to connect the platform with the existing eco-system of software and hardware solutions on the farm (ERP, machinery, etc.) and if there actually are specific processes on a farm that need to be maintained, to be able to integrate a solution that supports these processes with the FMS platform. Decision #3: Utilizing Key Resources vs. Full Process Digitization Large-scale farms often seek to kick-off the farm management software usage by giving the tool to key employees who will manage and track the entire operations. Usually, those employees are the powertrain of the company and by putting all the burden of an FMS adoption and usage on their shoulders, they simply get additional jobs to do rather than additional support to make their life easier and get better information for decision making. In general, there are three possible decisions on which employees will be using an FMS platform: Full digitization of operational processes on farm and including all employees to utilize the FMS (from managers, agronomists to tractor drivers). This should be the end goal of every farm as it brings full digital transformation benefits through higher operational efficiency. Ability to go immediately to this option depends on internal ability of a company to start with implementation/adoption on all areas. Digitizing one vertical unit (usually a single production unit or a single farm location) by covering all unit processes and including all unit employees and then scaling it to other units in the next phases. This option is the best option if option 1 is not applicable from start as it represents a phased approach unit by unit. Digitizing horizontally all production units, but including only key personnel like farm managers and agronomists from those units. The benefit of this approach is that a farm gets an immediate improvement in all areas of farm operations, from getting better insights for overall decision making to simplifying traceability reporting for authorities and certifications (Global GAP and similar). However, we recommend utilizing this option very carefully to avoid overloading your key employees and utilize it only as a temporary phase before rolling out FMS usage to all employees. There are many important decisions that are made during the FMS implementation that impact the success of the implementation and adoption. Three decisions covered in this article represent few major decisions we often see on large-scale farms and making the wrong step here can often lead to unwanted project outcome. We are strong believers that FMS implementation needs to make a fast ROI, so choosing the right farm management software vendor that understands local market opportunities and will guide a large-scale farm carefully while deciding on the appropriate approach is the biggest and the most important decision the farm needs to make. -- Agrivi is one of the key global leading farm management software companies that supports farmers to reach sustainable crop production. If you are interested in learning more about Agrivi implementation projects, contact us at sales@agrivi.com. Contact UsNOW

Agrivi Farm Management Software has been officially launched to the market on February 1st 2014 and that was the day we have started our incredible journey with vision to change the way food is produced, positively impacting over a billion people. 5-year journey took us through some amazing experiences, we witnessed fantastic farmer improvements like increasing their profit margin for more than 100%, we reached farmers in 150 countries, established collaboration with the entire value chain, but also gathered very valuable learnings from hard moments and challenges we went through. 5 Learnings from Our 5-year Journey If I need to summarize some of the important things we learned, then I would select these 5: #1 Life Has a Different Timeline in Agriculture Agriculture is the largest industry worldwide that employs over a billion people and generates over 2 trillion USD value for the global economy. In the same time, it is the most conservative industry that waited for a decade longer than other industries to start with digital transformation. Climate change brings many challenges, old and inefficient growing practices are in line for replacement, low profitability makes farmers on the edge of sustainability. With so high needs for improvement, why didn't the industry accept the new technologies and positive change earlier? The answer is multidimensional, but can be shortly explained through: Seasonal way of working where agricultural season (mostly) has annual life-cycle and farmers are used to make important decisions on investments/improvements once per year, not every day or month, so this makes adoption slower compared to other industries. The critical mass of new generation of farmers is needed for a transformation and we needed to wait for such farmers who bring business mindset into agriculture, are keen to improve and are tech-savvy. This finally happened. #2 SaaS Is Great, but for Service Delivery 99% of software companies in agtech space heavily rely on SaaS business model and this is really great. However, there are few things that are a bit different compared to the most of other industries: Farmers still prefer in-person contact which simply beats the digital interaction and makes online customer acquisition not the most attractive primary channel for go-to-market strategy. Physical access to farmer gate is hard, unless you are not addressing the premium high-value market segment, there is simply no business model for going directly to SME farmers just with the software. Partnering with companies from the value chain who already have access to farmers is a great leverage that brings results. This means that SaaS is great business model for delivering the service, but farmers are initially reached mostly through the existing non-online channels and with the support of the companies from the value chain. #3 Set the Right Customer Expectations and Deliver the Results Over $30 billion USD investments into agtech industry in the last 5 years empowered many agtech companies to build solid products and strongly push their marketing activities. Most of the companies promised incredible yield improvements to farmers and rarely they were able to deliver such results. All these false promises made farmers careful when deciding about digital technologies usage. Our goal is to help farmers be economically and environmentally sustainable by empowering them to make better agronomic and business decisions through efficient management of their operations, costs, yields, risks and time. Things don't happen overnight and we really do see significant farmer improvements in few years (e.g. 100% profitability increase), but expectations need to be set right and with a clear timeline. False expectations never lead to a success, but delivering promises brings happy and long-term customer relationships. #4 It Is About Change Management Companies often compete in having better products, finding the best product-market fit and that is very important for achieving the success on the market. What we have learned is that we really are in a blue ocean market where most of the farmers do not use anything like our product yet. Our biggest competitors still are pen and paper or sometimes spreadsheets. Digitization of analog way of managing farms means we need to change habits of a farmer to switch him from gut-feeling decision making to data-driven decision making. By default, most people resist to a change, even though they might know the change brings better times. To make this transition successful, we need to bring the farmer into a comfort zone where the change is perceived with no or minimum risk. That's why, we take a lot of attention on our customer success activities to ensure we really are there for farmers in every single situation. I dare to say, having the best product seams like prerequisite, so having extraordinary customer success team is more important for the market success. #5 Creating Win-Win Scenarios Through the Value Chain A lot of agtech companies are funded by investors who seek for disruption and unicorns. Disruption usually brings significant business model and/or conceptual changes within the industry where shortening the value chain and weakening the power of incumbents (long-established businesses with dominant positions) are some of the most common expectations. I am a strong believer in an efficient value chain with minimum amount of stakeholders needed to deliver the goods from producer to the consumer. However, it is important to understand that this doesn't mean everyone between producer and consumer will or need to disappear. There are valuable stakeholders without whom the industry simply wouldn't work, or would work less efficient. If an agtech company is capable to create a win-win partnership with companies within the value chain who have direct access to many growers, than the company has a high chance for the strong growth. No Matter the Challenges, Progress Is Significant, Future Looks Great There are many challenges when it comes to agtech industry, but the progress made in the last 5 year is significant. Industry has matured, is growing further rapidly and new generation of farmers leads the adoption of new technologies. Entire agricultural value chain has started to change and all stakeholders base their future strategy on digital agriculture technologies. This is already empowering and speeding-up a lot of agtech companies. The time for digitization of food and agricultural value chain is here and will never go back. The future looks positive and I am looking forward to see how the next 5 years will look like. -- Agrivi is one of the key global leading farm management software companies that supports farmers to reach sustainable crop production. If you are interested in learning more about Agrivi implementation projects, contact us at sales@agrivi.com. Contact UsNOW