Field tests of the FIGARO prototype start in nine countries
At the end of May 2013 the consortium announced that its first prototype was being tested in the field, at the same time, in nine countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The prototype put existing tools together rather than starting from scratch:
- a decision-support program from Netafim;
- a software layer for plugging in outside data sources;
- FAO's crop-growth model;
- plant and soil sensors and weather stations;
- satellite image analysis and tractor-mounted cameras;
- forecasting algorithms.
Its job was to collect field and crop data, run them through agronomic models and tell the grower how much to irrigate and when.
Partners and local growers and officials saw a test site during the partners meeting in Kavala, Greece, on 3–7 June 2013.