The agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere has opened its first European innovation centre for high-value crops in Parla (Madrid). It aims to drive innovation in the Agrotech segment in five main in areas: automation, electrification, connectivity, artificial intelligence and integrated agricultural systems.

The US company, which also specialises in advanced services for the agricultural industry, has adapted its Spanish headquarters to incorporate the John Deere Parla Innovation Center into its facilities. With a surface area of 3,500 square metres and an investment specified as being equivalent to €10 million, it will house over 25 organisations from the industry in order to develop a cooperative working model.

Global significance
The importance of the Spanish agri-food industry, and its significance in the world market for high-value crops, tipped the scales in favour of Spain as the location for setting up the new innovation centre. The company emphasises Spain’s role as the largest producer of olive oil and a leading producer of wine, fruit and vegetables. It also praises Spain's third place in the world in the Agrotech industry, behind the United States and India, and its key role in producing woody crops.

As part of a 60,000-square-metre complex, John Deere's Spanish headquarters opened in Parla in 2009. Surrounded by over four hectares of arable land, which is being used as a testing ground, the innovation centre will occupy the entire ground floor of the main building, which accounts for over half of its floor area. In addition to this land, professionals and students working at the centre will have access to an 800-square-metre auditorium, five meeting and training rooms, and a catering area.

Technology transfer
Companies from the industry, startups and educational centres, as well as public and private institutions, will all participate in the open innovation model offered by the new centre. In this way, the company aims to bring together entrepreneurial initiatives that are relevant to the agricultural industry and, above all, to drive innovation in high-value crops.

The companies taking part in the project include AGQ Labs, Agromillora, Azud, BASF, ID David, Metos, Teyme Group and Yara, which will be joined for a year by the fifteen startups selected through the European accelerator EIT Food. Parla City Council and the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) are also collaborating with the centre. The John Deere corporate chair has in fact been created together with this institution,, and will serve to channel training and scientific outreach activities, as well as doctoral and research scholarships.

As John Deere Ibérica's business director Eduardo Martínez de Ubago explained, “The innovation centre is a workspace where each of the stakeholders involved will contribute their knowledge in order to develop advanced solutions for sustainability and productivity in the industry. It will be a springboard for consolidating public-private collaboration initiatives, a talent pool, an incubator for innovative startups and a centre for outreach, knowledge and technology transfer.”

^{Photo: John Deere}