Thomas Lyons European agri-tech company ABACO Group and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) have teamed up with ASDA, Tesco, and McCain Foods to launch a digital application aimed at supporting farmers and growers to better manage the health and productivity of their soil and the assessment of soil quality across the UK. The partnership aims to establish an open, accessible, and data-driven solution for collecting soil data and benchmarking soil health. The soil health scorecard (SHSC) will now be trialled by ASDA, Tesco, and McCain within their supply chains.
The SHSC application will provide a database to record and analyse soil sample results and will provide advice to farmers on how to improve the quality of their soil. The scorecard will allow supply chain partners to fast-track the technology transition in agriculture and innovatively address key issues in food production. Through AI analytics, the scorecard is expected to transform the way farmers approach soil health management, and the collaboration among different players is a significant step toward sustainable and innovative farming practices.
ABACO Group said that rising costs and soil degradation have made for an increasingly challenging environment for the agricultural sector. Its partners in the implementation of this digital application – ASDA, Tesco, and McCain – have all chosen technology and innovation to improve soil quality, productivity, and in turn, sustainability in food production over the long term. The application provides a way to measure the success of specific management practices and offers tailored advice to farmers on how to improve soil health.
The CEO of ABACO Group, Antonio Samaritani, said: “ABACO has found ideal partners to foster innovation and sustainability in agriculture and farming. At ABACO, we put environmental, social, and governance concerns at the forefront of everything we do, and finding partners who are completely aligned with these objectives has made this a natural fit for us.”
The partnership arrives in a challenging period for the agricultural and farming sectors. The SHSC application will support farmers and growers in managing their soil health, which is crucial for the long-term productivity and sustainability of the agricultural sector. The application will also help to address key issues in food production, such as the rising costs of inputs and the need to improve the quality of outputs.
The SHSC application will be an open, accessible, and data-driven solution for collecting soil data and benchmarking soil health. It will provide farmers with a database to record and analyse soil sample results and will offer tailored advice on how to improve soil health. The application will also allow supply chain partners to fast-track the technology transition in agriculture and innovatively address key issues in food production.
Through AI analytics, the SHSC application is expected to transform the way farmers approach soil health management. The collaboration among different players is a significant step toward sustainable and innovative farming practices. The SHSC application will help to improve soil quality, productivity, and sustainability in food production over the long term.
