EMBRABA PROJECT
Digital Agriculture
Embrapa and Taggen startup present animal traceability technology for companies and producers' association
Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste and Taggen Industries and Services startup are working together on the development of a technological solution for individual monitoring of cattle from birth to the final consumer. The product, which is already in the testing phase at Canchim farm in São Carlos (SP), headquarters of Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, aims to be economically viable and easy to implement for adoption on a nationwide scale.
On Thursday, November 23, the technology was presented to potential partners. According to Werter Padilha, CEO of Taggen, the technical part is already completed, but there are still some challenges that will be addressed through the partnership. The meeting also included the multinational Qualcomm, a technology and connected smart devices company, the Research and Development Center in Telecommunications (CPQD), an innovation institution focused on information and communication technologies, the Brazilian Zebu Breeders Association (ABCZ), and the Brazilian Canchim Breeders Association (ABCCAN).
The purpose of the meeting was to demonstrate the potential of the solution and, together with the invited organizations, to enable ways to accelerate the next steps in order to overcome the remaining technological challenges, validate the solution in more environments, and meet the expectations of the Brazilian livestock sector. One of the challenges of the Brazilian agricultural sector is to guarantee the origin of the meat and ensure that the cattle were not raised in areas with environmental and social liabilities, such as deforested regions. The traceability and monitoring system, being developed by Embrapa and Taggen, will contribute to this objective and add value to the final product, both for the domestic and export markets.
According to researcher Alberto Bernardi, who coordinates the project at Embrapa, the technology, which is being field-tested with animals raised on pasture, is already adopted in indoor environments. “We are now adapting and starting in the field (outdoor) to track, monitor, locate, and manage animals in real-time. The main problem is still connectivity, as the idea is to monitor the entire life of the animal, from birth to the final consumer. Another challenge is cost, which must be feasible for adoption at scale by livestock farmers,” explains the researcher.
For CPQD’s Sales and Market Development Director, Sirlene Honório, there is no major technological challenge in this project that cannot be overcome because technological solutions advance very rapidly. For her, the challenge lies in being viable and capable of production on a large scale. To meet the customer’s needs, it is necessary to observe one or more of these pillars: increase revenue, reduce costs, or eliminate risks.
Experiment
The research is being conducted at Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, in São Carlos (SP). Sixty animals are already being monitored at the research center’s experimental farm. Twenty dairy cows and 40 beef cattle in an extensive and intensive system with Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration (ILPF).
The innovation is based, initially, on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless digital communication technology, consisting of individual devices (beacons), readers (gateways), and the Taggen’s TG Bov monitoring platform in the cloud with applications on tablets and smartphones as well. The idea is for the tool not to require high qualifications from the operator, as the devices are easy to install either on the animal or in the environment, simplifying and speeding up its usage process.
“We want the devices to be easy to acquire, install, and use. Animal monitoring needs to be available to the livestock farmer wherever they are. It’s the direct and immediate application of the ‘plug and play’ concept, meaning the customer buys it and installs it themselves,” says Padilha.
On Thursday, November 23, the technology was presented to potential partners. According to Werter Padilha, CEO of Taggen, the technical part is already completed, but there are still some challenges that will be addressed through the partnership. The meeting also included the multinational Qualcomm, a technology and connected smart devices company, the Research and Development Center in Telecommunications (CPQD), an innovation institution focused on information and communication technologies, the Brazilian Zebu Breeders Association (ABCZ), and the Brazilian Canchim Breeders Association (ABCCAN).
The purpose of the meeting was to demonstrate the potential of the solution and, together with the invited organizations, to enable ways to accelerate the next steps in order to overcome the remaining technological challenges, validate the solution in more environments, and meet the expectations of the Brazilian livestock sector. One of the challenges of the Brazilian agricultural sector is to guarantee the origin of the meat and ensure that the cattle were not raised in areas with environmental and social liabilities, such as deforested regions. The traceability and monitoring system, being developed by Embrapa and Taggen, will contribute to this objective and add value to the final product, both for the domestic and export markets.
According to researcher Alberto Bernardi, who coordinates the project at Embrapa, the technology, which is being field-tested with animals raised on pasture, is already adopted in indoor environments. “We are now adapting and starting in the field (outdoor) to track, monitor, locate, and manage animals in real-time. The main problem is still connectivity, as the idea is to monitor the entire life of the animal, from birth to the final consumer. Another challenge is cost, which must be feasible for adoption at scale by livestock farmers,” explains the researcher.
For CPQD’s Sales and Market Development Director, Sirlene Honório, there is no major technological challenge in this project that cannot be overcome because technological solutions advance very rapidly. For her, the challenge lies in being viable and capable of production on a large scale. To meet the customer’s needs, it is necessary to observe one or more of these pillars: increase revenue, reduce costs, or eliminate risks.
Experiment
The research is being conducted at Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, in São Carlos (SP). Sixty animals are already being monitored at the research center’s experimental farm. Twenty dairy cows and 40 beef cattle in an extensive and intensive system with Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration (ILPF).
The innovation is based, initially, on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless digital communication technology, consisting of individual devices (beacons), readers (gateways), and the Taggen’s TG Bov monitoring platform in the cloud with applications on tablets and smartphones as well. The idea is for the tool not to require high qualifications from the operator, as the devices are easy to install either on the animal or in the environment, simplifying and speeding up its usage process.
“We want the devices to be easy to acquire, install, and use. Animal monitoring needs to be available to the livestock farmer wherever they are. It’s the direct and immediate application of the ‘plug and play’ concept, meaning the customer buys it and installs it themselves,” says Padilha.
