Success for Saeed Ahmed and Bayu Jayawardhana: €2 Million Grant for FARMLAB Project

Saeed Ahmed and Bayu Jayawardhana from the University of Groningen’s Engineering and Technology insttute Groningen (ENTEG)-team have secured a €2 million NWO NXTGEN Hightech grant. This funding will support FARMLAB, a groundbreaking project that will further advance precision agriculture through fully autonomous aerial and ground robotics. This contributes to more sustainable agriculture and aligns perfectly with our region’s ambition to become a living lab for smart, sustainable farming.

As consortium leader, the ENTEG-team will coordinate this initiative. In FARMLAB, autonomous drones and ground robots work collaboratively to gather real-time field data and to deliver accurate and timely interventions using aerial manipulator arms and precision spraying systems. These low-cost technologies will enable farmers to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices. Large-scale data analysis enabled by the upcoming AI factory in Groningen will allow policymakers and scientists to monitor, understand, and forecast food production, disease emergence and spread, greenhouse gas emissions, and the health status of agricultural plots.

FARMLAB is a partnership with Wageningen University & Research, TNO, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, and industry partners Green Dino, SMI Dokkum, Batenburg Beenen, DEMCON industrial systems, and ABdrone.

We are proud to lead this innovative project, which strengthens the Northern Netherlands’ role in smart, sustainable agriculture. For more information, visit the RUG news page or contact our team.