Digitized Plant Protection Product labels for sustainable pesticide use
How can European farmers navigate complex regulations for Plant Protection Products (PPPs) more efficiently?
CropLife Europe is committed to assisting European farmers in their journey toward a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future. With a focus on crop protection solutions, CropLife – comprising of national associations, SME’s and large companies active in the agricultural sector - orchestrates various initiatives designed to support this transformative goal. Find out how our team of specialists helped CropLife advance sustainability in European agriculture.
From green to growth
To help farmers navigate complex rules and regulatory requirements, and keep the administrative burden at manageable levels, CropLife Europe has launched the AgriGuide tool. AgriGuide aims to reduce risk and provide simplicity by providing growers with guidance supporting them in being compliant with Plant Protection Products (biologicals & synthetics) conditions of use. Real-time digital label information is a key pre-requisite. Hence, AgriGuide aims to digitise all PPP labels in the EU following a single machine-readable format.,
In essence, AgriGuide can be compared to driver assistance systems that have transformed the automotive industry. For example, when considering the condition of use “tractor driving speed,” AgriGuide will alert the user, indicating if they are within the speed limits allowed whilst applying a given PPP.
Currently the plan is to deliver AgriGuide in three releases:
- Offer standardised, machine and software-readable labels across EU 27 with easy accessibility
- Offer Growers the ability to record their operations to be in line with legislation
- Offer Growers / contractors with near real-time in cab compliance guidance
AgriGuide is a collaborative multi-stakeholder effort with more than 20 companies and institutions including the European farmers and cooperatives (COPA and COGECA) and the agricultural machinery manufacturers (CEMA).
Deloitte’s contribution
To make this solution a reality, we put together a team with a wide range of expertise to analyse and determine the complete scope and necessary set-up of this solution. For this, we considered the involvement and impact on all stakeholders within the farmer ecosystem stakeholders, such as farmers, farm equipment manufacturers, regulators, and governments from each EU country. Our support consisted of three key steps.
- Step 1: Blueprint definition. Deloitte leveraged an ecosystem approach to detail the value propositions and desirable use cases for each stakeholder group, as well as the technical blueprint and high-level roadmap, creating a solid foundation for the plan.
- Step 2: Benefit case. In this phase, Deloitte analysed and quantified the potential financial benefits of this initiative for the major parties: growers, EU authorities, and the crop protection industry. The assessment confirmed that this solution will offer considerable advantages to growers, the crop protection industry, and EU authorities. Although not covered in this analysis it can be strongly assumed, that there is also significant value for the machine industry in AgriGuide.
- Step 3: Defining the technical architecture. We laid the foundation for the realisation and implementation of the blueprint. How can we make this more sustainable way of farming a reality?
The journey
This is a multi-year journey not only for CropLife Europe but all stakeholders and the farming ecosystem to enhance food security while protecting the environment. Deloitte is committed to support this journey as part of Deloitte’s “Future of Food” platform, leveraging our broad set of expertise to ensure this journey is an absolute success. The immediate next step is to pilot the solution in multiple countries with a specific crop to test and learn.
