Belgapom has partnered up with Boerenbond and VITO to continue to develop the online platform WatchITgrow, which was created to back up the Belgian potato chain.

The website was created to allow growers to easily monitor arable crops and vegetables. It aggregates and uses different types of data including satellite, weather, soil, loT and field data, which are imputed by the grower. The information is then combined using new technologies such as big data analytics and machine learning to offer users more timely and personalized data. The main goal behind the platform is to support producers to improve their yields and achieve more sustainable production.

In the upcoming months, Belgapom will employ the help of Boerenbond – a professional association of farmers – to get growers acquainted with the new platform and assist them in the process of gathering all crop-related data. VITO – an independent research organization – is hosting the domain and thus data-privacy, data-security, and data access is said to be guaranteed.

Belgapom also notes that growers who collect their crop-related data using a personal account and submit these data via WatchITgrow can receive a financial a bonus between EUR250 to EUR750 from their buyer. This financial support is meant to encourage growers to use novel digital technologies.