25.04.2024 / APACCCEEC & Partners Hold a Forum ‘Digitalization and Entrepreneurship in Agriculture’ in Plovdiv

On April 25, 2024, a ‘Digitalization and Entrepreneurship in Agriculture’ Forum was held at APACCCEEC’s Demonstration Zone of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEE Countries located within the grounds of Agricultural University – Plovdiv.

The event was organized in partnership with the Agricultural University – Plovdiv, AgroHub.BG and Digital Innovation Hub Trakia (DIH Trakia). The event was attended by students, professors, journalists and representatives of the academic community interested in entrepreneurship and the latest trends in agriculture.

During the opening of the forum, Dr. Momchil Stanishev, Director of APACCCEEC, and Associate Professor Dr. Boryana Ivanova, Rector of Agricultural University – Plovdiv, addressed the audience with opening speeches. The Rector of Agricultural University – Plovdiv expressed her gratitude to APACCCEEC for the fruitful cooperation and emphasized the importance of the concepts of ‘digitalization’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ for the students’ career development.

Within the framework of the forum, Dr. Momchil Stanishev summarized the results of Bulgaria’s first Accelerator for startups in agriculture organized by APACCCEEC in 2023, in which more than 50 candidates from 12 countries participated. A video recording showcasing the initiative was also streamed to the students and the guests of the forum. The Director of APACCCEEC invited the attendees to participate in the upcoming editions of the Academy of Entrepreneurship in Agriculture, a new initiative following up on the Accelerator which will be held in the cities of Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. The goals and the study plan of the Academy, as well as the prerequisites for participation and the application process, were explained in detail during the event.

At the forum, Ms. Yana Georgieva and Mr. Ivan Draganov from AgroHub.BG presented: AgroHub.BG’s project which is being carried out by a consortium comprising 14 organizations; the services provided within the project; as well as the implementation of Demo Points within the project which is focused on precision agriculture. As part of the project, a National Demo Center and Demo Points ‘Science’ have been created in an Agricultural University – Plovdiv facility located in the village of Brestnik.

In addition, Associate Professor Dr. Ivanka Tringovska, Deputy Director of the Maritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute, presented in detail the National Demonstration Center within the AgroDigiRise project, which aims to achieve cost-cutting and to boost optimization. She pointed out that the goal of the center is to support vegetable growers and its technology is applicable even in older facilities. The first-year achievements of the National Demonstration Center were also highlighted (15% increase in yields, 7% increase in average fruit weight and 9% increase in the number of fruits per plant for three different tomato varieties).

Mr. Petar Kanchev, Head of ‘Training Programs’ at EDIH Trakia, focused on the issue of information security and specific threats in this area. He spoke in detail about the services provided by EDIH Trakia, including digital consulting, trainings, testing and others.

Associate Professor Dr. Petko Ruskov, technical director and co-founder of The Edge: R&BD, focused on a topical aspect of digitalization – blockchain, which is a technology providing a foundation for establishing a system for doing business with partners we do not know, but who are certified by institutions we trust. This creates opportunities for the traceability of production in agriculture.

During the ‘Deep Technologies in Agriculture – Opportunities, Risks, Strengths and Weaknesses’ panel, Dr. Christian Daskalov, Chairman of the Board of the DIH-Trakia, Associate Professor Bozhin Bozhinov from the Agricultural University – Plovdiv and Associate Professor Samir Naimov from the Molecular Biology Department at the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv took part in a free discussion on current gene-editing techniques, including the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR method, and how these advances in science affect farmers and the consumer.

As part of the same panel, Prof. Dr. Stanimir Stoyanov (Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv/ Institute of Information and Communication Technologies – BAS) presented a project concerning a gene bank in Sadovo, as well as the ZEMELA platform. ZEMELA is a regional type of platform aimed at small and medium-sized farmers, the core of which are personal assistants. Prof. Stoyanov also spoke about experiments carried out in real conditions within the framework of the ZEMELA project and on some challenges related to deep-learning technologies.

The last speaker in the panel was Mr. Kiril Georgiev, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Cybersecurity Association. According to him, if we are to avoid security risks, technologies must first be carefully tested before being put to practice.

During the closing part of the event, Associate Professor Dr. Boryana Ivanova, Rector of the Agricultural University – Plovdiv, noted that initiatives such as the Accelerator Program and the Academy for Entrepreneurship in Agriculture are a way to support young people and the Agricultural University will encourage its students to be more active in participating in such programs.

At the closing of the event, Dr. Stanishev thanked the Agricultural University – Plovdiv for the good cooperation and joint partnership, also expressing the hope that similar events will be held in Plovdiv with a greater frequency, because they add value for all stakeholders – the real sector, the academia, as well as the local and central administrations.