On March 31st 2021, SpiceUp held a Zoom webinar on the topic of “The Role of Satellite Data and Analytics in Predicting the Agricultural Commodity Chain and Price Trends”. This event, supported by the Netherlands Space Office (NSO), invited partners of the SpiceUp consortium—Verstegen, VanderSat, and Nelen and Schuurmans, as panelists to present the workings of their organizations’ innovations and technologies in geodata and geospatial analysis for the pepper commodity. This public Business to Business (B2B) event provided key insights on how SpiceUp utilizes satellite data to relay accurate information and predictions on pepper supply, prices, GAP, and weather conditions to SpiceUp’s stakeholders.
The webinar was moderated by Dian Kurniawati, Project Manager of SpiceUp Indonesia, who led the event by introducing the panelists and their contributions to the development of the SpiceUp Application. The event was opened with a presentation from Kees van Duijvendijk from NSO, who introduced the global Geodata for Agriculture and Water (G4AW) program, which runs 3 projects in Indonesia, including SpiceUp. The G4AW program aims to utilize digital technology based on satellite data to improve food security in developing countries. The satellite data provided by NSO, which can be applied to all farming cycles, is currently focused towards providing services on weather information, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), agronomic advice, and crop insurance, while expanding to Covid-19 recovery services. NSO sees huge potential for SpiceUp’s B2B services, which will provide many benefits for microfinance institutions, insurance institutions, and agri-traders.
In the following session, SpiceUp’s technological partners explain their key roles in developing the SpiceUp Application. VanderSat is a provider of global satellite-observed data, products and services with an emphasis on water and crops. Guyon Duifhuizen and Joost Beckers from VanderSat explained how their technology can predict supply and price trends of pepper commodities through analyzing the data derived from satellites. VanderSat’s satellite images can detect microwave radiation that derives the conditions of soil moisture. By collecting data at critical moments, extreme soil conditions can be found through data anomalies, which can be used to predict crop yields and pepper prices. VanderSat’s four main areas of focus in Indonesia is Lampung, Bangka Belitung, West Kalimantan, and East Kalimantan
Following Vandersat’s presentation, SpiceUp’s technical partner Nelen and Schuurmans , explained their geospatial analysis technology named Lizard . Evelyn Aparicio Medrano (Project Manager of Nelen and Schuurmans), Maud Delen (System Integration Specialist of Nelen and Schuurmans), and Martijn Krol (Technical Lead of the Lizard Platform of Nelen and Schuurmans) talked about the technical workings of Lizard, which collects data from various sources such as location data, pepper price data, and specific farm data and presents it as a useful information in a visually effective style. The data collected by Nelen and Schuurmans is pooled in a cloud, and then goes through lengthy and complex steps of data processing and analysis before being presented to consumers in a visually pleasing and concise manner. In the SpiceUp App, consumers are presented with concise data gathered from the Lizard API and the Lizard Database, which helps improve consumers’ decision-making processes based on updated and accurate information.
Verstegen Spices and Sauces B.V., a renowned Netherlands Spice Company, led by the Chief Representative Officer, Evert-Jan Verschuren, explained how important geodata analysis is towards the decision-making processes of pepper buyers. The company sources 100% of its pepper from Indonesia, however, there has been a steep decline of pepper production in the past 3 years. He noted the challenges for the pepper business, one of which is the inability to access accurate data. Verstegen sees the benefits for accurate data forecasting and trend observations in assessing the best moments to buy pepper. This knowledge can be accessed through the SpiceUp dashboard, which will be the main offer of their B2B services.
Finally, Dhimas H. Putranto, Business Developer of SpiceUp Indonesia, shared SpiceUp’s vision of providing geodata insights for farmers, businesses, and governments to make better, informed, data-driven decisions. Stakeholders will be able to gain accurate information and important insights that are readily available on the SpiceUp App, the Geodata Business Intelligence Dashboard, or the Lizard Data Catalogue. SpiceUp collaborates with Indonesia’s leading universities, Institut Pertanian Bogor, to provide location specific and high resolution data on weather and climate forecasts. Another main feature of the SpiceUp App is its ability to record key data points in the value chain to build leading traceability infrastructure. SpiceUp believes that their services can be highly replicable to other commodities, and its services can be customizable based on each clients’ needs. The webinar ended with a question and answer session, with key takeaways being SpiceUp’s data provision, which is available for B2B through its online Geodata Business Intelligence Dashboard . Alternatively, if a business already has its own frontend development a connection with SpiceUp’s API can be made available.