How to set up a farm in digital agriculture? Feedback from the "Mas numérique" in the south of France

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present the results of a project that led to the design and development of a Mediterranean digital farm (commercial wine estate) in the South of France: Le Mas numérique. This exploitation is intended to demonstrate the technical but also functional interest of the digital solutions deployed there. Le Mas numérique has been operational for 2 years. It meets the challenges of initial and continuous training, but also of interoperability issues. The case of viticulture in the south of France is particularly interesting to address because digital technologies are being adopted by winegrowers and consulting services in the region. The aim of the article is to share this experience by presenting the collaboration that has been set up with companies, academic players and professionals. The article presents the organization of the project and the funding model that were chosen in order to design a model digital exploitation with up-to-date technologies. The proposed model is original and allows the project to be established in the long term. 15 digital services have been deployed on a winery. They have been organized on themes corresponding to practical issues (like yield and quality management as well as health protection). These areas make the digital solutions understandable to winegrowers and advisers. Specific support has been implemented for the vineyard manager and estate employees in order to facilitate the concrete adoption of digital solutions. The article presents a typology of the visitors (more than 1000 winegrowers and advisors have come to Le Mas numérique since its launch) as well as a brief description of the training and activities offered during the visits.