How Planet is Powering xarvio’s Ambition to Support Growers in Optimizing Crop Production Globally

The importance of resilient food supply chains is more evident than ever as seen with disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Adding to this, the impact of climate change is becoming more apparent each season, with record warm droughts and flooding. Global events throw into relief the big question on everyone’s minds: How can we feed the global population, while avoiding irreparable harm to the planet?

For xarvio Digital Farming Solutions powered by BASF, the answer heavily depends on how farmers can evolve their practices to become more data-driven, precise and efficient using advanced technologies. Helping farmers improve their yields, optimize inputs, mitigate risk and minimize environmental impacts is the impetus behind xarvio’s three core solutions: SCOUTING, FIELD MANAGER and HEALTHY FIELDS. All three applications help growers to identify and address potential issues in their fields earlier and more precisely.

xarvio currently serves customers in more than 100 countries globally, including European countries such as Germany and France, countries in North and South America as well countries like India, where the majority of farmers operate small holdings. The company has set its sights on reaching even more growers in more regions over the next several years.

“Our ambition is to support more and more growers using our products,” said Tobias Menne, Global Digital Farming Lead. “Our crop optimization platform FIELD MANAGER, one of our digital products, helps farmers predict what’s coming next and quickly make the right decisions. We’re seeing a lot of growth in Europe, North America and Latin America, and anticipate they will make up a significant share of adoption worldwide.”

xarvio’s AI and database employ 35 crop production models that continuously analyze real-time data from satellites, weather stations, rain radar and other sources to simulate and measure crop growth and in-field crop stress. The outcomes are actionable recommendations to optimize crop production in specific fields and field-zones. Some features can talk directly to the farmers’ machinery and therefore optimize crop production more precisely than if done manually. HEALTHY FIELDS takes it one step further: farmers can outsource field management activities with success guaranteed to certified contractors.

Reliable, scalable data is a key ingredient to farmer success with xarvio’s FIELD MANAGER, which provides field-zone-specific agronomic advice at key moments in the growing season. Planet’s global, high-frequency imagery, in combination with weather data and sophisticated agronomic models based on more than 25 years of experience, create a powerful source of truth to help farmers know precisely what they need to do and when.

“For growers, timing is everything. xarvio delivers agronomic insights the moment they need it. The value PlanetScope imagery adds is not only the frequency for time-series analysis of specific field zones, particularly in cloudy areas, but also the spatial resolution to discriminate crops and reliably measure vegetation health,” said Jeffrey Spencer, Global Technology and Data Lead Digital Farming.

This ultimately translates to significant benefits for growers. Using the FIELD MANAGER application, xarvio customers, on average, have reduced their application rates by 30 percent and thus saved on their input costs.

“We are excited by the results we’re seeing so far, and at the same time, we expect these results to be seen in other geographies where digital farming technologies haven’t been applied at scale and where we anticipate the greatest contribution to sustainable agriculture and a healthy global population,” says Jeffrey Spencer, Global Technology and Data Lead Digital Farming.

Learn more about Planet’s solutions for agriculture here.