European Agri-tech company, Abaco Group, has announced the launch of its Reading-based UK subsidiary, Abaco (UK) Limited.
Already working within the UK agricultural industry, Abaco work to technically support institutions such as DEFRA, and various Agritech research bodies and commercial companies. The company also operates across the EU with a focus on digitising functions within the supply chain to increase competitiveness and ensure the environmental sustainability of the sector.
With the UK market already accounting for over a third of the Group’s business operations, Abaco’s technology solutions will enable farmers and land owners to accelerate the technology transition in agriculture and address key issues such as water shortages, soil quality and crop yield.
Abaco’s tools include an open platform to support the integration of data and imagery, AI analytics, IoT devices, hyperlocal weather data, and satellite imagery. Abaco is able to utilise satellite imagery to enable farmers to better understand the topography of their farms to help boost production and work with the natural geography of the land for more sustainable long-term production.
Abaco offers a specialised software package for agri-insurance covering risk and damage assessment, supply chain management, sustainability with a focus on water use and pollution, and land investment KPIs. Through its software, the company also supports wine producers by helping to forecast grape yields, which is of increasing relevance in the U.K., as the number of vineyards continues to increase. These solutions have a positive impact on the retail customer who is able to trace and check the sustainability of the final product.
Worldwide, the company has over 100,000 users on its platforms and covers over 50,000,000 hectares of agricultural land. With the agricultural sector so vulnerable to climate change, Abaco operates within the framework developed by the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to make the sector more resilient and better prepared to respond to extreme climatic events and Phytopathological threats, data and new technologies that bring precision and insight to farming without the need for continued use of chemical products, are essential to preserve the quality and quantity of production.
Antonio Samaritani, CEO of Abaco Group, said: “We are delighted to announce the opening of our U.K. office, and to further strengthen our presence in the U.K. We pride ourselves on innovation in order to support the agricultural sector, and look forward to continuing our commitment to the U.K. market and increasing our investment to further support stakeholders in the agricultural sector as well as the U.K. government as it continues to develop its agricultural policies after the withdrawal from the European Union.”