The project also developed a Strategic Research Agenda for agri-business technology. It identified four key areas that need more research: broadband infrastructure, extended supply chain management, collaboration and natural resources management.

"We want farmers to get the benefits of ICT technologies by finding innovative ways to increase profits, maximise efficiency, and generate new businesses and business models", stated Fernando Ubieta, co-ordinator of the AmI@netfood project.

Currently broadband infrastructure is often too expensive, or simply unavailable, in rural regions, hampering efforts to modernise farming management. Broadband is vital for areas like supply chain and farming management.

That's perhaps one of the most exciting areas. Some farmers in countries like Ireland deploy Radio Frequency Identification technology to track food from the field to the store to guarantee its origin. It provides a quality assurance for consumers, eases logistics and provides a digital trail if a problem occurs.

Even more exciting is precision farming, the surgical strike of crop management. Current technologies allow farmers to regulate crop inputs - like water, pesticides and fertiliser - to the square metre, so individual plants get just the amount of each that they need. The benefits are potentially enormous: less pollution for lower input costs.

Unfortunately the expense of the equipment outweighs the benefits for most European farmers, though the techniques are used in large Canadian and US farms. Targeted ICT research could perhaps reduce the cost of deployment. Similarly, GPS and tracking technologies attached to a tractor and linked wirelessly to a farmhouse-based PC could allow a farmer to maximise his or her time.

Another important area is collaboration, developing means for farmers to get the best from ICT by, for example, developing community web sites or tracking crop prices live, or working in local forums to maximise local efficiency. Here the problem is developing business models that could make such local collaboration initiatives self-supporting, and developing local expertise to run and maintain collaboration platforms.

Finally, Natural Resource Management could enormously benefit from integrated ICT tools to preserve water, wildlife and the local landscape, with potential benefits from tourism.

"The aim is to revitalise rural economies and societies by ensuring the appropriate use of technology, ultimately aiming to allow rural citizens to stay in their area if they want to", stated Fernando Ubieta.

Currently the project is in the final validation stage for its SRA, and it hopes to have a final version by September. In the meantime it will continue to seek the development of pilot projects to get the ball rolling.

"The hope is that we can get four projects, with about four rural European regions in each one, and with each project looking at an area targeted in the SRA", stated Fernando Ubieta.

If successful, it could mean a rich high-tech harvest for farmers, and an even richer harvest for farming communities.

For more information you can contact Fernando Ubieta, INNOPOLE S.L., Rda Buenavista nº 24 - BL 10 4º A, E-45005 Toledo, Spain, Tel: +34-925-283665, or visit the AmI@netfood project web site.

This article has been reprinted from the IST Results web site.