Our research
Based on 100 years knowledge and international experience in Agro Food, we conduct applied research for sustainable innovations, combining fundamental and applied knowledge in industrial research projects.
Optimal breeding with robotics
Food production relies on the efficiency of plants and animals. To find and select the best performing variety in a nursery, greenhouse, barn and on the field, automation and large scale testing is key. Wageningen University & Research is specialised in sensing & plant/animal phenotyping with non-destructive, fast and robust applications. In co-development with machine builders and breeding companies we develop objective methods to collect data for describing variety performances in all stages of (re)production.
Smart sensing for optimal product quality
Whether it’s fresh fruit, vegetables and cut flowers or processed foods, top quality, sustainable, cost-efficient production processes are crucial for agrifood companies wanting to establish themselves in the market. Wageningen Food & Biobased Research develops smart sensor systems that provide detailed and objective insight into product quality. This enables agrifood companies to optimise processes throughout the chain and extract the maximum value from product quality.
Robotics for hands-free production
The future for food production, handling and processing is hands-free farming, hands-free harvesting & hands-free assessment and monitoring. The skilled workforce that accepts repetitive tasks under harsh climatic conditions is decreasing rapidly. There’s a growing need to automate labour intensive tasks. Next to that robots also provide new assets such as: acquiring spatial specific data, able to work in harsh conditions, continuous improvement and even learning capabilities and the ability to work 24/7.
Towards circular food systems
To provide the optimal treatment to a plant is called precision agriculture, satellite farming or site specific crop management. Precision agriculture is therefore a farming management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field (arable farming, grassland farming, vegetable farming, nursery tree farming), greenhouse or climate cell, variability of crops. Wageningen University helps to be more sustainable by minimizing inputs (fertilizers, chemicals, energy, footprint, soil compaction, water use and starting materials) and maximize an optimal nutritious, high quality product as output. Products that are delivered at the right time-spot and in the right quantity. We develop intelligent machine end sensor solutions interacting with tech-suppliers and end-users.
Ethics, adoption and ecosystems
Robotics and artificial intelligence offer plenty of opportunities to make the agrifood sector smarter, more efficient and more productive. Agrofood Robotics, from Wageningen University & Research, connects governments, sector organisations and companies. From the design phase onwards, economic, ethical and social opportunities and challenges are incorporated into the solution. This leads to a more effective application of robotics and improved scalability.