Innovative startups, new technologies driving agriculture change in Poland

euronews (in English)

The Podlaskie region of northeastern Poland is best known for its natural beauty, dairy farming, and vast expanse of forest including Europe’s last ancient forest. It is also growing an innovative agriculture, food and health technology sector.

Transcript

00:00 The Podlaskie region in northeastern Poland is best known for its natural beauty, dairy

00:07 farming and vast expanse of forest, including Europe's last ancient forest.

00:13 Podlaskie has the cleanest air in Poland. It's even called the green lungs of Europe

00:19 and I can tell you it feels really good when you breathe it in. A third of the region is

00:25 covered in forest like this. And behind the scenes Podlaskie has been building a thriving

00:32 innovation sector in agriculture, food and health technology which has earned it the

00:37 nickname the Silicon Forest.

00:44 Local start-up Ideal Bistro has come up with an ingenious way to bring freshly cooked meals

00:49 sourced from local farmers to the workplace. Workers choose their meal on an app, then

00:54 collect it from these vending style machines called food-a-mats.

00:58 Our solution is totally different because we can serve like two or three hundred people

01:03 during twenty minute breaks at once.

01:07 Ideal Bistro's technology prevents food waste and can forecast how much food farmers need

01:13 to produce, giving them a guaranteed income. The company is now working with dieticians

01:19 and using AI to create personalised meals that match individuals' health and nutrition

01:25 needs.

01:26 So here's the application. You've got health care, so this is your daily calorie demand,

01:31 this is your BMI, you can see the meals that are suggested by application to your health.

01:40 Podlaskie is the largest milk producer in Poland and a leader in agricultural machinery

01:45 production and looking to the future.

01:47 This region is special because we have very high agriculture production, but we would

01:53 like to make this agriculture production very modern, using this software, using these programmes,

01:59 using intelligent systems and as well we're thinking about using autonomy machines, robots

02:05 and drones as well.

02:06 So why is new technology, innovation in agriculture important?

02:11 If we use modern technology, this food will be more safe and more healthy and the customers

02:19 can buy cheaper food in the market. It can help as well with green production, green

02:24 energy.

02:25 Historically one of the poorest regions in Poland, Podlaskie has benefited from huge

02:31 investment from EU funds. The region is now classified as an Emerging Innovator Plus by

02:38 the European Commission.

02:41 Podlaskie has launched a project called Agricultural Valley 4.0 to drive innovation in the areas

02:48 of agritech, foodtech and healthtech.

02:52 We decided to implement this project because our region is very strong in dairy production

02:58 and agricultural machinery production. So if we connect this together with universities,

03:05 research institutions, investors and public authorities, we can create, I hope, a wonderful

03:12 innovation ecosystem.

03:13 The big focus over the next five years is on growing the region's start-ups.

03:18 We're going to create incubation and acceleration programmes. We want to connect this ecosystem

03:25 with investors from outside, especially with business angels and venture capital funds.

03:31 The region's capital, Białystok, has a rich cultural heritage and its streets are

03:36 full of historical buildings.

03:39 The city is home to several leading academic and research institutions which form an essential

03:45 part of this innovation ecosystem. And one of them is based at this 16th century palace

03:51 just behind me.

03:52 Inside the Branicki Palace, often called the Polish Versailles, is the Medical University

03:57 of Białystok. The university created Poland's first centre for artificial intelligence in

04:02 medicine and the Agricultural Valley 4.0 project hopes to turn its scientists' discoveries

04:08 into commercially successful start-ups.

04:11 I conduct research that aims to assess the quality and safety of food.

04:16 NutriDesign Lab, that's the name of our start-up, aims to create support for older people,

04:23 especially in preventing neurodegenerative diseases. One of the elements of food support

04:28 is an application that allows us to assess the state of food. Another component is functional food.

04:35 So what is functional food?

04:37 Functional food is food that can help with a disease, it can help our health.

04:43 In fact, food is a treasure trove of bioactive ingredients.

04:47 The start-up is now looking for financing to start producing its functional food, one of

04:52 many exciting projects set to come out of Podlasie.

04:55 [MUSIC]

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