Blueberry farm Farmarket

The availability of measured data is important

"The best thing about CleverFarm is their great customer support and their completely maintenance-free sensors, which haven’t given us a single problem yet.”

Jakub Lacik

„We started working with CleverFarm because we needed sensors to monitor the temperature and humidity of where we grow our blueberries. We also needed an option which recorded, and allowed access to, previously measured data. CleverFarm excels in this by uploading its measurements to the cloud which makes it very easy to view and sort. The best thing about CleverFarm in their great customer support and their completely maintenance-free sensors, which haven’t given us a single problem yet.”

Jakub Láčik, agronomist

Farmarket s.r.o.

Across their 25 ha, they have 120,000 bushes producing a total of 40 tonnes of blueberries each year. In ideal conditions each individual bush can produce 5 kg a year over the entire season. They plan to increase the total annual harvest to 400 tonnes. They only sell they berries to Czech shops, including both online shops and retail chains.

Challenge

When growing blueberries, it is critical to monitor their temperature and the humidity that they are growing in – both can contribute to mold. Farmarket combats this problem with CleverFarm, whose sensors can accurately model out measurements in temperature and moisture levels in both air and soil. Another use for CleverFarm’s sensors is inside the farm’s greenhouses, where ventilation is a major issue. Is the air temperature gets too high inside the greenhouse, it can damage the flowers and even the resulting fruit. They also use sensors to check the functionality of the drip irrigation to ensure that the irrigation is sufficient.


The Solution

Thanks to satellite imagery and satellite data, it’s possible to identify which areas have a higher blueberry potential, and which areas may need additional irrigation. One specific problem that Farmarket had was that their greenhouses were blocking the view of the satellites. But CleverFarm is working on a solution which will soon render this problem a thing of the past.

Results

The inspiration behind CleverFarm’s smart sensors was to provide something that allows for environmentally sustainable agriculture. Due to drought and the deterioration of soil quality from the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides, future agriculture will be almost i

mpossible without the incorporation of modern technology. Farmarket is preparing themselves for this future by using CleverFarm sensors to minimize the amount of water needed for irrigation and also the amount of crop protection products used on the plants. Thanks to satellite imagery and satellite data, it’s possible to identify which areas have a higher blueberry potential, and which areas may need additional irrigation. One specific problem that Farmarket had was that their greenhouses were blocking the view of the satellites. But CleverFarm is working on a solution which will soon render this problem a thing of the past. In the future, Farmarket is also considering using CleverFarm’s models for predicting pests. Since the tracking of blueberry pests is still in its infancy, this solution is still under discussion.