Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EO-FARM (EARTH OBSERVATION FARMING)
Reporting period: 2014-10-01 to 2015-03-31
One of the main needs of farmers, in particular smaller ones which account for 80% of the UAA in EU27, is the possibility to increase yields while reducing the costs and environmental impacts of current crop production processes.
EO-FARM main objective is to launch in the market an innovative PF service which targets especially small farms (average size between 5-30ha), addressing a clear user need, and to enter in the emerging market of commercial applications of EO downstream services in agriculture.
A development plan has been realized, reporting a detailed description of how the platform will be implemented during phase 2 of the project. Risks have been identified and a contingency plan and project milestones have been realized.
Key stakeholders have been identified that can support the market introduction of the proposed solution, such as agricultural associations and cooperatives, and a value proposition towards such stakeholders as well as towards the end users (small farms) has been defined. A set of relevant events for dissemination and marketing actions have been also identified.
All the analyses performed have been integrated in a business plan; the business plan includes value proposition, the business model, Profit&Loss Models, ROI Calculation – Revenues&Cost Breakdown, commercialization strategy, marketing strategy, as well as the organisational plan for the commercial phase. A financial plan will also be included indicating the expected development and commercialisation costs, and the financial sources that will be needed to perform the plan.
In this context The EO-FARM project is expected to bring IPTSAT a net profit ranging within € 1,150 and € 1,780 million, with an overall corresponding project ROI between 13,5 % and 76,1% in 5 years.
Additionally EO-FARM will have positive impacts on small farmers by increasing productivity and sustainability by means of improved resource efficiency: it will possible to use less water, energy, fertilisers (especially phosphorus and nitrogen) and pesticides.