Dutch development of robotics in horticultural production and food processing is to receive a significant boost after the NxtGen Hightech research programme was given the go-ahead by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in May.
The programme, which will run for seven years, will receive 155 million euros of public money from the National Growth Fund, established to support the growth of key Dutch industries.
Agrifood is one of the sectors benefiting from the programme. Seventeen consortia will explore the use of smart solutions, sensor technology and robotics applications in ‘hands-free’ production of open-field and glasshouse crops and food processing.
Wageningen University & Research’s Agro-Food Robotics team take part in investigating driverless agricultural machinery by further developing safety systems, farm-level simulation environments and remote assistance, so operation can be safe and reliable.
Erik Pekkeriet, programme manager Agro-Food Robotics at WUR and co-ordinator for NxtGen Hightech agrifood: “The Netherlands is currently the third largest exporter of agrifood technology and machines in the world, a strong international position that we want to maintain. We believe NxtGen Hightech will help us to achieve a lot in a relatively short time and have real impact in the sector.”