Valley Institute for Sustainability, Technology & Agriculture

Awesome stuff going on at the UC Merced Experimental Smart Farm!

💡 As we conclude the second day of the AI for Ag Summit, we would like to express a huge shoutout to Jessica Wedow of AIFARMS (Center for Digital Agriculture) for her exceptional work in chairing this event! Your dedication, leadership, and expertise made the event a resounding success. 💫 🌟 Jess, your ability to bring together top minds in the field and create a platform for insightful discussions is truly inspiring. We're incredibly fortunate to have you as part of the USDA AI for Agriculture Institutes. The event was co-hosted by the 5 agriculture-focused AI institutes funded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF): ☑ AIFARMS (Center for Digital Agriculture) ☑ AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS) ☑ AI-CLIMATE Institute ☑ AIIRA - AI Institute For Resilient Agriculture ☑ AgAID Institute AI Institutes Virtual Organization (AIVO) #AI #Ag #Summit #Innovation #Collaboration #USDA #Institutes #TeamWork #Leadership #Appreciation

We are thrilled to announce the publication of "Inclusive Innovation in Agriculture: Redesigning Agtech Ecosystems for All." This comprehensive research paper, authored by Connie Bowen, Sarah Mock, and Ben Weinbeg on behalf of Farmhand Ventures, along with Suma Reddy, Jamil Wyne, and Fayzan G. from Riffle Ventures, offers valuable insights into making agtech inclusive and effective. Through interviews with entrepreneurs and support organizations, the authors developed five best practices, emphasizing the importance of understanding problems, engaging stakeholders, listening to marginalized voices, incentivizing participation, and managing conflicts. The paper highlights unique challenges in agtech, such as limited funding and seasonal constraints, and stresses the need for collaboration to ensure domestic food security. By including diverse perspectives, we can create innovative, practical solutions for a sustainable agricultural future. Big thanks to additional contributors, Equitable Food Initiative, Elemental Excelerator, AgLaunch, and F3 Innovate at UC Merced. This paper was funded by Valley Institute for Sustainability, Technology & Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture and designed by Charvi Shrimali. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dFDfekXN #InclusiveInnovation #Agtech #SustainableAgriculture #Research #Teamwork #Innovation #Agriculture #FarmhandVentures #F3Innovate #UCMerced

It was almost exactly five years ago when I attended a workshop in support of Fresno DRIVE. Little did I know what a departure that specific event would have on my future direction. I was introduced to Ashley Swearengin and the Central Valley Community Foundation and my outlook on what was possible for our region was fundamentally changed. I was introduced to Marek Gootman and I learned that our regional universities had a role to play as engines for inclusive economic growth. Now, some five years later, we are making good on the idea that inclusive innovation can happen right here in the San Joaquin Valley, and also making good on the proposition that University of California, Merced is in the Valley, for the Valley. It is with excitement then that I share with you a joint effort of Farmhand Ventures and Riffle Ventures to define inclusive innovation in developing tech solutions for climate resilient food systems. The takeaways for entrepreneurs from this thought piece from co-authors Connie Bowen and Suma Reddy are below, but I encourage you to read the entire report. And from our team at the Valley Institute for Sustainability, Technology & Agriculture, we are happy to have supported this effort, including key support from Dr. Leigh Bernacchi, PhD, Dr. Kimberly Gibson, and Alli Sweigard. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gukG3VCs tl;dr >> Understand the Problem and its Context: Entrepreneurs should start with a complete understanding of the whole problem their technology aims to address, including the context in which the issue occurs and how it is currently being addressed.  >> Identify and Understand Solution Participants: Next, the entrepreneur must identify and meet the full spectrum of people who are currently involved in addressing the problem. Getting to know these individuals/groups should involve gaining a deep understanding of each participant’s strengths, weaknesses, needs, and specific expertise.  >> Include Users First: Then, the entrepreneur should endeavor to ensure that they collect and integrate input from those solution participants who have the least power to affect the form of the adopted solution.  >> Practice Co-creation: Once participants are identified, the process of co-creation, building, collecting feedback, and iterating on possible solutions, can begin, involving relevant stakeholders without allowing any to be overlooked or ignored. Some stakeholders’ participation will be more costly, and entrepreneurs should be prepared to overcome those cost barriers. >> Understand Conflicting Outcomes, Prioritize Common Goals: Finally, the entrepreneur will have to negotiate through the varying and, at times, conflicting wants and needs of various stakeholders. Determining clear and transparent justification for outcomes and eliciting feedback from co-creators is essential.  #entrepreneurship #agtech #innovation #inclusivity #CalAg #CaliforniaAg #AgInnovation #PrecisionAg #Farmers #F3

Last week, two of our AgAID Institute coordinators caught up with our friends at the University of California, Merced! Lily Oliphant and Wendy Haw visited one of the CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UC Merced summer camps, looking at the implementation of Ag Tech from a K-12 perspective using VEX Robotics. They also had the opportunity to meet with some of our AgAID Institute researchers and visit the smart farm!

"California trials Australian tech for forecasting water quality of San Joaquin River Delta" This project is led by CITRIS at UC Merced and partner campus UC Davis (CITRIS Aviation PI Susan Ustin).   AquaWatch is a collaboration between California and Australia that is seeking to develop a ‘weather service’ for water quality for California, Australia, and eventually, globally. AquaWatch is integrating ground-to-space based water quality monitoring with advanced, cloud-based data analytics forecasts within an Internet of Things (IoT) framework. The project seeks to use existing networks of in-situ water quality sensors and contribute additional in situ sensors for high-accuracy ground-based measurements. These will be combined with satellite observations made from a constellation of existing and future custom-built earth observing satellites to scale highly precise water quality across large regions.   The work is part of the Action Plan under the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Commonwealth of Australia and the Government of the State of California to address climate change and a transition to green energy. A critical facet of the MOU and the project is the exchange of scientific knowledge and technical expertise, and co-design of the system with local indigenous, public and private water resource managers.   "CITRIS is proud of these international partnerships to advance technology solutions for our most pressing needs," said Dr. Erin Hestir, Director of CITRIS at UC Merced. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gVzgdUt6

This week, UC Merced proudly hosted the IoT4Ag Annual Meeting! Over three days, we saw incredible collaboration, insightful panel discussions, engaging poster sessions, valuable networking, and a Bowles Farm tour. Students and faculty from across the country, including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, and Indiana, joined us to advance the IoT4Ag mission. Together, we're creating and applying IoT technologies for precision agriculture and training a diverse workforce to tackle the grand challenges of food, energy, and water security🌾🔋💧 Learn more at https://iot4ag.us #IoT4Ag #PrecisionAgriculture #Collaboration #Innovation #Sustainability #FoodSecurity #WaterSecurity #EnergySecurity #UCMerced

Spotted: University of California, Merced Chancellor Muñoz at the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag) Annual Retreat sporting his new IoT4Ag bucket hat! Excited to be welcoming the faculty and students from this NSF Engineering Research Center on the UC Merced campus this week. IoT4Ag unites expertise in agronomy, agricultural engineering, communications, economics, environmental science, electrical and computer engineering, cyber systems, social science, and more to develop and deploy precision agriculture technologies to address the global grand challenges of food, energy, and water security. CITRIS is proud to partner with IoT4Ag on workforce development and diversity & culture of inclusion programs.

May 3rd, F3 Innovate and the VINE in collaboration with The VINE and Farmhand Ventures, coached 20+ entrepreneurs toward #agtech solutions. The workshop covered the process and considerations for #inclusiveinnovation to serve multiple users with an innovation. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students learned about commercializing their research, finding investors, and how to create value around intellectual property. Together, we are shaping a future where innovation propels cleaner, greener, more efficient farming practices and equitable economic growth in the heart of the Central Valley. #UCMerced #VINEBuild #F3Innovate #Entrepreneurship #AgTech Thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen! Micki Seibel Connie Bowen Lucie Cahierre Gabriel Youtsey Joshua Viers Leigh Bernacchi, PhD Kimberly Gibson Adrian Buitron Boada Alli Sweigard Ellie Feliciano Gehad Elhanafy Kira Bustillos

Just a reminder of the upcoming workshop next week on Tuesday, May 14th in Merced. If interested please register here: https://lnkd.in/gS4puyYv. Workshop will feature presentations by various experts and researchers focusing on best #irrigation and #nutrientmanagement practices tailored specifically for young orchards in the San Joaquin Valley. Appreciate all the sponsors including Almond Board of California, California Pistachio Research Board, CDFA, WiseConn, and Irrometer Company Inc. UCANR California State University, Fresno University of California, Davis #CAagriculture #orchards #almond #walnut #citrus #olive #pistachio Moneim Mohamed Mae Culumber Andre Daccache Tobias Oker Giulia Marino Charles Hillyer Shawn Ashkan Sponsors mentioned as a show of thanks, not to be meant as endorsement or not an endorsement of any groups, individuals, or organizations. Photos used in post from this page https://lnkd.in/gBC6F7Di, so credit to those sources.