Background
Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australia's horticulture industry.
Our role is to advance Australia’s $16 billion horticulture industry by investing in research and development, marketing and trade to build a prosperous and sustainable future for growers.
We partner with Australian and international co-investors including government, leading science, technology, and consumer strategy experts to anticipate future challenges and opportunities. Our role is to capture value from the investments we make to benefit all levy payers.
In 2022/23, 3.6 million tonnes of leviable vegetables were produced with a production value of $5.8 billion. Over the last 10 years the volume and value of vegetable production has increased by 288,603 tonnes (9%) and $2.1 billion (57%) respectively. While exports of Australian leviable vegetables have generally only comprised a small market channel, strong growth in exports to key Asian and Middle Eastern markets has been observed in recent years, with the value of fresh leviable exports in 2022/23 being $252 million.
Challenge
The Australian vegetable industry is seeking innovative proposals to establish a cutting-edge crop forecasting program. This initiative aims to harness new technologies, data analytics, and industry collaboration to develop a reliable system for predicting seasonal production volumes. The goal is to enhance market planning, risk management, and overall industry sustainability. We invite submissions from qualified and experienced respondents who can bring fresh perspectives and creative solutions to this important project.
Vegetable crop forecasting aligns with Hort Innovation’s Vegetable Strategic Investment Plan 2022-2026, Outcome 4 - Business Insights, Strategy 3 – ‘Use industry data to inform long-term and/ or in-season planning tools and supply strategies’, KPI 1 – ‘Availability of production forecasts
Challenge Context:
The vegetable industry faces inherent challenges due to the perishable nature of crops and the need for precise supply chain coordination. Fluctuations in supply can lead to economic inefficiencies, highlighting the importance of developing a robust forecasting system. Hort Innovation invites innovators, problem solvers and innovative organisations to provide crop forecasts and support more effective market planning and risk management, thereby enhancing industry profitability and sustainability.
Our main areas of focus involve:
- Develop an innovative crop forecasting system that provides accurate, timely, and actionable predictions for vegetable production across different regions and crop types.
- Enable growers and industry stakeholders to make informed decisions based on robust production data.
- Foster collaboration across the industry to ensure the forecasting system is widely adopted and tailored to meet the specific needs of various stakeholders.
- Utilise novel approaches and technology analytics to improve the accuracy and reliability of forecasts.
As part of this challenge possible approaches may include:
- Utilise Existing Data - Use available historical and real-time data (e.g. yield, weather, and market trends) to build forecasts, acknowledging data gaps or inconsistencies.
- Innovate with Incomplete Data - Apply advanced analytics and AI to enhance forecasting accuracy, even with incomplete or fragmented data, filling gaps and improving predictions.
- Develop a User-Friendly Tool - Design an intuitive forecasting tool that provides actionable, crop- and region-specific production volume forecasts for growers.
- Engage Growers and Stakeholders - Collaborate with growers and industry partners to ensure the system meets the needs of the industry and gains broad adoption.
- Pilot Testing and Validation - Conduct pilot trials with crops like sweet corn and beans to test, validate, and refine the forecasting model in real-world conditions. Pilot testing will be a key component of the methodology, providing valuable feedback to refine the system before full-scale implementation.
Considerations:
- Compliance with ACCC Laws: Ensure all proposed activities comply with Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) regulations.
What's in it for you?
This is a global challenge, and Hort Innovation is willing to collaborate with innovative companies, researchers, universities, and technical solution providers. A successful collaboration could mean funding for the solution through the Hort-Frontier co-investment mechanism or in collaboration with the Vegetable industry R&D levy. It is important to mention that although the implemented solution must be available in Australia, the implementation can be carried out anywhere in the world.