GovTech Challenges

• One of the biggest challenges for the MAFF is the supervision of the proper and legal treatment of plant objects with plant protection products in order to protect them from pests.
• Many farmers treat their fields with plant protection products based on their personal experience or simply on advice that is not always correct. As a result, each year’s surveillance reveals a large number of discrepancies: complaints from the general public about improper use of plant protection products, sprays that are not registered in the information system for receiving applications.

• The solution should allow farmers to scan the label of a plant protection product themselves, to obtain the most important requirements for the use of a specific product: spray rates, requirements for respecting human, animal and environmental protection zones and all other mandatory information. This would allow the protection of the environment around the fields and the health of the people living in the vicinity.
• The solution could also make it quick and easy to mark the fields where a particular brand of plant protection product is to be used, thus automatically completing the entries in the electronic application log, which normally has to be filled in no later than 2 days.

Prizes will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners:

• 1st prize –  9 600 EUR
• 2nd prize – 5 760 EUR
• 3rd prize –  3 840 EUR

The deadline for receipt of projects or applications for participation is 15 September 2021, 00:00.

For a detailed description of the challenge and the call for projects, see the Central Public Procurement System.