June the 21st, 2024 – As part of the Digital Croatian Village (Digitalno selo) project, 50 hectares of land has been sown by drone for the very first time.
As Josipa Ban/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, approximately 50 hectares of land in the Slavonian municipality of Strizivojna were sown with a cover crop, DTS (clover grass mixture) – all with the use of a drone.
This sowing is the first practical implementation of the commendable Digital Croatian Village project, the goal of which is to provide education and enable the use of new technologies in agriculture so that Croatian food producers can become as competitive as possible on the market. Drone sowing for farmers from Strizivojna participating in the project was done by the IT company Digital Agro, also a project partner.
Igor Frljužec, founder and director of the Digital Agro company, says that seeding fields with the use of a drone brings more advantages to farmers. “Sowing with a drone while the crop is still in the field is good because more moisture remains in the soil, less fuel is consumed, it refines the soil, and farmers can get a financial incentive for it,” revealed Frljužec, whose company has been dealing with digitisation in agriculture since 2012.
a bright future for the digital croatian village project
He added that he’s very glad to be able to participate in the Croatian Digital Village project, so that he can show farmers all the benefits that this type of technology provides in practice. Young farmers from Strizivojna, Antun Degmenčić (22) and Marko Mišić (21), both agree that this practice is still underrepresented in Slavonia’s strongest economic branch – agriculture.
With the Digital Croatian Village project, which started in March of this year, that should all finally change. The plan is to connect local farmers with technology companies and science in order to educate them about new technologies, as well as their practical application.
“Our intention is to show that agriculture is a branch that has a bright future, but that today, things need to be done in a different way than 50 years ago. Today, practices must include digitisation to be competitive. That’s why we launched this socially responsible project”, said Vladimir Nišević, before inviting other farmers and partners to get involved, as the intention is to expand the pilot project, which will last one year, to other places across Croatia.
The Digital Croatian Village project has been supported by Osijek-Baranja County and the Strizivojna Municipality from the beginning. Josip Jakobović of the Strizivojna Municipality stated that several meetings have already been held between technology companies and farmers, and there are high expectations for the project in the municipality where around 60 family farms operate.
“I expect that through this project, farmers will learn everything about quicker and more efficient methods of production, which should ultimately result in better quality and more competitive products,” he said.
young people involved in agriculture
Mato Lukić, deputy prefect o Osijek-Baranja County, also pointed out the demographic advantage.
“Agriculture is particularly important for Osijek-Baranja county, where 212,000 hectares of land are cultivated. Improvement is very important to us, especially in order for young farmers to stay in Slavonia and to make it worthwhile for them to work on their land,” Lukić pointed out. There’s thankfully no shortage of young farmers in Strizivojna. The share of young people in the municipality, where the majority is engaged in animal husbandry and farming, is about 20%, while at the national level it stands at about 14%.
The partners of the Digital Croatian Village project, in addition to those mentioned, are also Infodom – Competence Centre for strengthening the food industry in rural areas, and HEP. It is also supported by the Ministry of Agriculture.
