THE Western Australian Agtech Meetup was held last month, the first time in three years.
Gathering together with support from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), the meetups create a hub where primary producers, governments and start-ups can connect and provide solutions to potential problems.
Previously the events had a start-up focus, but after hiatus, events host Beanstalk was keen to engage with farmers and have more representatives from the agriculture sector to share their challenges through reserve pitches.
CBH Group principal innovation and partnerships Sean Webb ran one of these reverse pitches, openly sharing problems for which they are looking for solutions.
Beanstalk co-founder and director Cal Archibald believes agriculture industry has a huge role to play in social and environmental sectors, saying innovation was the key to unlocking its potential.
One area of innovation is in food waste, where Mr Archibald has seen many start-ups and scaleups emerge.
"We are really excited about opportunities in the food waste space," Mr Archibald said.
"Obviously there is a huge conversation about carbon emissions in agriculture at the moment and a big part of that is about methane emissions from crop loss and food waste.
"We have been working on a number of projects, working with large food processors and growers, taking what was a waste stream and turning it into a value-added product.
"For example, we have Australia's largest tomato processor and are helping them to think about how they take their waste streams into nutraceuticals, gut health products and as an additive to baking goods.
"There is no end to what you can do with horticulture products, so we try to help businesses not just think 'I am a tomato grower' but 'I am a materials manufacturer'."
Mr Archibald is excited that these meetings are up and running again, dubbing them a 'centre of gravity' for WA's agtech and startups, with the next one scheduled for Monday, December 6.
Original founder of the meetings back in 2017-2018, AgriStart managing director and co-founder Natasha Teakle, said the sessions were critical in connecting to innovative farmers who were motivated to try new technology but didn't know where to start.
Mr Archibald is excited about the future of agtech and believes the cross pollination of industries is the way forward.
"I think the future for agtech is outside of agtech, by that I mean there's so much technology in human health, transport and logistics and mining technology that is solving the same problems we have in agriculture," Mr Archibald said.
"We need to not try and solve a problem from scratch but take a solution that is 80 per cent complete already and working in a different industry and translate that into a new solution for agriculture."
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