The most important activities conducted during phase 1 of the project comprised the calculation of the market potential of the nutrient sensor by determining the available fertilised agricultural area in Europe and assessing competing solutions for the determination of the nutrient concentrations in soils, the identification of technological developments needs and improvement potentials including the assessment of their feasibility and the development of a commercialisation concept. The main results of phase 1 are stated below:
- Calculation of the market potential: The nutrient sensor has a great market potential. Based on the current numbers of agricultural holdings and the area of fertilised agricultural fields in the EU, around 25,500 sensors can be sold if just 1 % of the agricultural holdings with more than 10 hectares of fertilised agricultural area buy the sensor. In the best case, more than 2.5 million nutrient sensors can be sold in the EU only. The nutrient sensor is superior to all competing solutions for the determination of nutrient concentrations in soils and can therefore exploit a large share of the market potential.
- Determination of the number of agricultural holdings with sufficient fertilised agricultural area: There are around 2.27 million agricultural holdings in the EU with more than 10 hectares of agricultural area that is regularly fertilised or would at least be suitable for fertilisation, mainly comprising arable land for crop production but also pastures and meadows. Moreover, there are various small agricultural holdings with less than 10 hectares of fertilised land, which can form associations to buy and operate one nutrient sensor together. Therefore, the total number of potential customers in the EU was calculated to be 2.55 million.
- Identification of competing products: There are 2 competing solutions for the determination of nutrient concentrations in soils available: Mobile laboratories based on photometry and analyses in specialised laboratories. Regarding precision, duration and costs of the analyses, Pessl’s nutrient sensor is superior to the mobile laboratories. Specialised laboratories are superior to Pessl’s sensor in terms of precision, but their analyses are much more expensive and take much longer. Therefore, Pessl’s sensor will be the best solution for nutrient analyses after its market introduction.
- Identification of technological development needs and improvement potentials: Although the development of the nutrient sensor is quite far advanced, development needs and improvement potentials were found in several of categories. These comprise technical engineering, software development, the development of additional process equipment, the conduction of field tests, the development of a concept for a series production, sales and product management, marketing activities and legal considerations.
- Assessment of feasibility of technological developments: All identified technological development needs and improvement potentials were assessed and considered feasible. Ideas and concepts for the implementation of many of them have already been developed.
- Development of a commercialisation concept: A successful commercialisation of the nutrient sensor can be expected. The necessary technological developments are feasible, the final product will be superior to competing solutions. Moreover, a marketing concept has been developed, necessary employees and production facilities have been planned and distribution partners have been found.
- Various further tasks: The legal framework, i.e. laws and regulations affecting the development and market introduction of the nutrient sensor on the European level, was investigated and a concept for IPR management was developed. Plans for the internal calculation of staff and costs were elaborated and risks of the project were assessed.
