Gestion AgrIA, Canada, received a $4.7 million financial contribution from the Government of Quebec through the Green Fund to complete a key research project designed to help growers boost their productivity while significantly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Gestion AgrIA consists of three Canada-based partners—Hortau, Les Fermes Tri-Jardins, and Houblon des Jarrets Noirs.

"Let's remember that agriculture uses 40% of Earth's habitable land and 70% of its water resources. The global population will reach 10 billion in 2050, and according to the UN, if we do not manage to produce more food with less water and less farmland, it will take two planets to feed everyone," says Jocelyn Boudreau, co-founder and CEO of Hortau.

Hortau and its partners have been working since late 2017 on developing what is said to be the first predictive and global monitoring tool for crop production to substantially boost yields and productivity while reducing inputs such as water, fertilizer, pesticides and energy. The new, fully digital multivariate technology redefines the needs, diagnosis methods and approaches used in agronomic interventions through real-time, continuous measurements and techniques from the field of artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning. It also significantly reduces the inputs, pollution and greenhouse gases for a given harvest volume.

"Our new technology has exciting environmental and economic benefits for growers, and will benefit the many Canadian businesses that serve our Lévis production center," says Boudreau.