Synergia

The Synergia programme is a crossover programme of the Dutch sectors Agri & Food, Horticulture & Starting Materials and HighTech Systems and Materials, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). This seven-year research programme will be executed by a unique and broad consortium consisting of Wageningen University & Research, University of Twente, Eindhoven University of Technology, Delft University of Technology, Radboud University, TiFN and a broad range of private sector partners. The programme will receive €7m funding from NWO and the private sector.

The research programme consists of six research lines covering and integrating relevant scientific fields:

Understanding biological/ecological processes in different archetype systems (single-crop greenhouse horticulture, dairy cows interlinked with feed crops, multi-crop arable farming in field soils),
Smart crop and animal sensing (to monitor biological processes),
AI-based decision making (for optimal decision making and management),
Robotic actuation (to enable complex handling & operation of the new systems),
Societal acceptance and transition, and
Integration and validation in three use cases.

The first five research lines are linked to three use-cases for the demonstration and validation of methods and technologies: horticulture, dairy farming and arable farming. The three use-cases cover all major types of agriculture and land-use in the Netherlands, and represent specific societal challenges. They will be implemented in the AGROS project. These five research lines and three use cases are organized in respectively work packages 1-5 and work packages 6-8 as shown in the figure below: