10.03.2021.

Agriculture dates back to thousands of years ago: even the ancient Egyptians were engaged in large scale farming. Nonetheless, the agriculture industry has evolved immensely over time, fueled by the new scientific discoveries and the consequent technological developments. Precision agriculture is among the newest advancements in this sector. It consists of using the latest technology to monitor crops and the surrounding environmental conditions in real-time with the ultimate aim of supporting better management decisions to boost crop productivity and sustainability. Its growing popularity among farmers alongside its rising market demand created the need for professionals with a dual background in agriculture and in IoT (Internet of Things) engineering. To address this market gap, University of Porto researchers are coordinating the project TERRATECH – masTERs course on smArt Agriculture TECHnologies, which intends to launch an advanced international master course that provides students with the necessary knowledge and skills to work on the field of precision agriculture.

TERRATECH started in November 2020 as a partnership between University of Porto (Portugal), International Hellenic University (Greece), University of Debrecen (Hungary), University Pompeu Fabra (Spain), Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Italy), Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (Latvia), Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (Greece), Cerca Trova Ltd (Bulgaria), ECQA GmbH (Austria), Evolutionary Archetypes Consulting SL (Spain), Ktima Filippou- Schoinoplokakis (Greece), AgriWatch BV (Netherlands), Agroop Lda (Portugal), and Regional Federation of CUMA of the West (France). This project was funded by the Erasmus+ Programme “Knowledge Alliances” (Project Number: 621568-EPP-1-2020-1-PT-EPPKA2-KA). More information and updates are available at TERRATECH’s website here.