IBM announced today that Omniolytics, a SA agritech startup chose its products, IBM Watson, operating under the IBM Cloud to develop asset of farming solutions for commercial and emerging poultry farmers.
Recently, the SA local poultry industry has encountered a lot of challenges from origins and quality of feeds to high feed prices and recurrence of avian influenza and diseases like salmonellosis and listeriosis. In 2019, the poultry industry was valued at over R46 billion which makes up more than 16% o/f the total gross value of agricultural production in South Africa. In 2018, the avian flu outbreak cost the SA economy R954 million.
OmnioFarm, machine learning, and the cloud
OmnioFarm is addressing the need for emerging and commercial poultry farmers to make real-time, informed decisions on the possible threats and forecast the dangers within the broiler, house facility. Farmers can get early warning on the possibility of challenges, which makes their processes more effective and improve production standards.
OmnioFarm developed a new approach that makes use of Internet of Things technology for the data collection on environmental conditions for day-to-day management activities and production facilities and processes of poultry to enhance animal health, reduce losses and assist producers to improve production efficiency to assist in solving food security concerns.
OmnioFarm uses machine learning and IBM Watson to identify and learn bird behavior, thereby enhancing management practices. Farmers can then receive the complete details of the flocks well being delivered through IBM Cloud to identify environmental variations and processes that could point to the possible problems.
DataViz, Omniolytics foundation product draws data from wireless sensors placed under the chickens’ broiler house to monitor the environmental conditions which include water, air, and lighting quality. The DataViz platform digitally captures the environmental conditions of the facilities and production records as well as scheduling activities, setting notifications and thresholds. The platform also captures live and historic trends which can also be accessed on a mobile device or computer.
The startup benefitted from IBMs Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP) which provides developing enterprises with access to resources like IBM technology, business mentorship, and technical support. IBM supports Omniolytics with a blend of non-financial and financial support towards the development of the OmnioFarm platform assisting Omniolytics to provide advanced technology services that are commercially ready.
Craig Holmes, Technology Leader of IBM SA says, “Agriculture plays a crucial role in the success of our local economy, and through the EEIP programme we’ve been able to support Omniolytics at a critical stage of their business growth. By improving access to IBM’s Cloud and AI technologies and increasing the adoption of a range of digital solutions as we incubate and support startups, we’ve set out to not only support local demand but also ensure our entrepreneurs become globally competitive. This is crucial in a post-Covid world and we’ll continue to provide innovative technology startups with advice, support, and the best technologies available in the market,”.
Working with IBM Services has given Omniolytics much-needed support to refine its pitches, tweak its business model and perfect the backbone of this truly innovative solution.
