The technological developments that are coming at the service of the primary sector, as well as the benefits of smart farming especially for cotton production, were presented and discussed during a workshop on “Sustainable development of the national cotton sector: the contribution of smart farming” held on Wednesday, 31 May 2023.

The meeting was co-organized by NEUROPUBLIC and GAIA EPICHEIREIN at the newly built gaiasense HUB building in Piraeus, in cooperation with the President Antonis Siarkos and the members of the Panhellenic Union of Cotton Ginners and Exporters (PUCGE).

On the part of PUCGE, the meeting was attended not only by the President, Mr. Siarkos, but also by the Vice President of the Association, Mr. Prodromos Ousultzoglou and Mr. Euripides Dontas, Mr. Nikolaos and Charalambos Karagiorgos, Mr. Stamataios Kouroudis, Ms. Maria Pavlidou, Mr. Vasilios Petsas, Mr. Vasilios Polychronos, Mr. Klearhos Sarantidis and Mr. Georgios Siarkos.

The delegation of PUCGE initially met with the Board of Directors and the President of NEUROPUBLIC, Mr. Christodoulos Antoniadis and toured the company’s facilities in Piraeus, where they saw the excellent technological infrastructure and asked relevant questions to the specialized executives.

Afterwards, the members of PUCGE visited the ultra-modern gaiasense HUB, the second privately owned building of NEUROPUBLIC, where they were welcomed by the CEO of GAIA EPICHEIREIN, Elli Tsiforou. This was followed by a tour of the fully automated production line, the warehouse and NEUROPUBLIC’s second data center, while they were given the opportunity to talk to the agronomists of the integrated, innovative gaiasense by NEUROPUBLIC smart farming system and learn about the advanced technologies supported by the HUB.

Opening the meeting, President Antoniadis stressed that “the sustainable development of Greek agriculture is equivalent to the development of ambitious and visionary sectoral strategies, especially for sectors of national importance and significant export profile such as cotton. Technological innovation provides a guarantee of sustainability and a passport to the future development of the sector for the benefit of all: producers, ginners and the national economy”.

Shortly afterwards, Ms. Tsiforou took the floor, and spoke about the “Political and institutional framework for the sustainable development of the cotton sector”, noting that “the European Green Deal sets the tone for the way we will produce in the EU in the coming decades, with important legislative initiatives outside the CAP framework shaping the new, green and digital profile of European and Greek agriculture”.

Mr. Ioannis Mavroudis, founding member and Executive Director of NEUROPUBLIC, explained that the application of the gaiasense smart agriculture system has already significantly helped cotton farmers to reduce production costs and the environmental footprint of the production process.

“Effective fertilization, utilization of irrigation needs and targeted spraying, i.e. rational use of inputs, lead not only to the production of higher quality products but also to lower carbon footprint,” said Mr. Mavroudis, to conclude that “NEUROPUBLIC provides new digital tools that promote pro-environmental standards in cotton.”

In particular, to date, gaiasense has been applied to 28.490 hectares of cotton in 6 regions of the country and has proven to help reduce up to 14% in irrigation water costs per hectare and up to 28% in crop protection costs by avoiding unnecessary spraying. In addition, it can reduce fertilization costs by up to 33% per hectare. A path is therefore opening up for a sustainable digital passport for cotton products with high added value for all stakeholders in the sector.

The workshop concluded with statements by representatives of the Union and a discussion on the need to formulate a sectoral strategy in relation to the digital transition of the cotton sector, a bet for the sustainable future development of our national product.