As of today, Krivaja – a village near Backa Topola – is home to the first ever digital farm in Serbia and the region. It is a unique place where cutting-edge technology, combined with agricultural machinery, is applied in a real life environment, i.e. in a field. The digital farm is designed by the BioSense Institute in Novi Sad, in cooperation with the agricultural producer Krivaja within the project ANTARES, funded jointly by the EU and Serbian Government.
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Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that thanks to the farm, farmers will learn first-hand about reducing risks as well as water and fertilizer consumption and familiarise themselves with using fewer resources to produce higher yields, reads a statement released by the Government.
The digital farm proves that Serbia is the region’s leader, she said, with a chance of becoming the leader in digitization and agriculture-related technologies in Europe as well.
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Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi described agriculture as an important development driver, noting that Serbia has doubled its exports of agricultural products in the past few years.
The Union is one of Serbia’s major trade partners and donors and one of the biggest investors in the country, Fabrizi said, adding that it will remain committed to supporting the country’s European integration efforts, for the benefit of both the economy and citizens.
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The EU will continue to support innovation activities in Serbia through Horizon 2020, Fabrizi said. Also, it will keep on supporting Serbian agriculture through IPARD, a programme through which it will allocate EUR175 million in assistance.
He said that the digital farm was designed by the BioSense Institute in Novi Sad, in cooperation with Krivaja agricultural producer within the ANTARES project, funded jointly by the EU and Serbian Government.
Ambassador Fabrizi underlined that ANTARES project, which fused together IT and agriculture – two of the most vital sectors – was an example of good cooperation between Serbia and the EU.
