The Agricathon, a hackathon for agriculture

In partnership with Agridea, which is the main sponsor, The Ark, Technoark and Opendata.ch, the Institute of informatics of the HES-SO Valais-Wallis is organizing for the fifth time a hackathon on the theme of agriculture. This interdisciplinary event brings together agricultural professionals, computer scientists, economists, designers and other curious people who want to realize together prototypes of innovative tools and services for agriculture.

How does the Agricathon work?

Each participant registers for the event and then consults the challenges submitted by other participants or proposes a challenge idea. Once the event starts, the multidisciplinary teams are composed and the work begins. During 4 mornings, all teams work to propose a concept that aims to develop a prototype of an innovative tool with the help of coaches. On the last day, each team has five minutes to convince a jury of professionals in the field of the merits of its approach.

Parsell, a winning project in 2022

One team particularly stood out this year with the Parsell project (a combination of parcel and sell). Composed of Mégane Solliard, Doriane Papilloud, Gaétan Mottet, Simon de Blasi, Théo Choffat and Benjamin Morel, the team, along with its sponsors (Agridea, Fernand Cina, Cave St. Philippe, Lac Souterrain, Be Popcorn and Opaline), proposed a project that responds to a local problem. In Valais, there are 20,000 owners of 80,000 plots of land, representing approximately 5,000 hectares of vineyards. 2'000 hectares of vineyards are extremely fragmented and it is therefore important to facilitate exchanges between owners and operators. Parsell responds to this problem by proposing a platform to connect owners of vineyard plots and growers. This tool facilitates exchanges between owners and operators of cultivable surfaces, promotes the creation of companies and the Valaisan wine industry.

A simple and intuitive operation

The Parsell homepage offers three options: search for a farmer, buy a parcel, sell a parcel.

Each owner can create an account that allows him/her to update the information about the available plots of land that can be visualized thanks to an e-Grid map detailing the surface, the price, the type of grape variety and a contact form to send a message directly to the owner.

Stakeholders can therefore easily access this tool and manage information about their plots or needs without the intervention of third parties or the passage through a restrictive administrative request.

Applied research at the service of companies and communities

The HES-SO Valais-Wallis, through its nine research institutes, focuses on applied research issues in order to provide concrete solutions to companies and local authorities. The IT research institute is no exception to the rule and focuses its activities on the digitization of services, e-administration, e-health, energy management, enterprise resource planning and artificial intelligence integrated into information systems. With this experience, the professors who conduct research at the institute share their know-how with students through events such as the Agricathon, which integrates coaches, companies, students and professors.