e-Farms: a 2-way road from small farms into the networked world

• Grant number: 07/54558-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2007
• End date: May 31, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computing Methodologies and Techniques
• Agreement: Microsoft Research
• Principal Investigator: Claudia Maria Bauzer Medeiros
• Grantee: Claudia Maria Bauzer Medeiros
• Host Institution: Instituto de Computação (IC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

e-Farms is a multidisciplinary project for research and development in Computer Science and Agricultural Sciences. Its goal is to solve theoretical and applied problems that are motivated by two real needs of the Brazilian population: (a) investigate low-cost solutions, using wireless networks, for data communication in rural areas where infrastructure is limited; and (b) develop models, methods and algorithms to manage, integrate and analyze data provided by sensors (on the ground and on board satellites), for decision support in agricultural planning. End users are owners of small farms and their cooperatives. The "two-way road" of the title denotes that the farms will be brought into the networked world not only to receive information (thus improving their crops), but also to provide data (via sensors) and farmer feedback, thereby helping to adjust models and influencing decisions. Experts from a cooperative will participate at all development stages, and validate the project results. (AU)