On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, a ceremony was held at Mokrin House (in the village of Mokrin) to mark the start of the Digital Village project, jointly implemented by the BioSense Institute and the companies Delta Holding and Mokrin House.

 

The aim of the project, activities performed thus far, and plans were presented at the event, attended by the Mayor of Kikinda, representatives of the Serbian Government, the Provincial Government, the diplomatic corps, the agribusiness sector, and farmers participating in the project.

 

Since modern agriculture is a great opportunity for the Serbian economy and disappearing villages, the idea is to use digitalization to make production more efficient, increase the profit of agricultural producers, and make life in rural areas more attractive, especially to young people. For that reason, the focus will be on education and the use of new technologies in agriculture, notably facilitating farmers’ work and making them more competitive in the market in the 21^st century.

 

The first village in Serbia to undergo the digital transformation process within the project is Mokrin. Its advantage is reflected in having a large number of individual agricultural producers and a simple installation of wireless digital infrastructure.

 

The BioSense Institute, a pioneer in the digital transformation of agriculture, will offer its range of digital solutions, along with expert knowledge, thus helping farmers modernize their production. Experts from Delta Agrar, part of Delta Holding, will also offer their professional assistance to project participants so that they can achieve better production and business results. Knowledge transfer and training sessions for agricultural producers will take place on the Mokrin House estate.

 

Among other things, local people will be able to learn to use new applications and digital tools and apply them to their agricultural holdings. Since networking has a major role in rural development, the idea is to use digital platforms to connect producers and third persons and create virtual cooperatives. That way, they can face future challenges together.

 

The project is set to last 3 years, and everything offered within it is completely free of charge. At the moment, 30 agricultural holdings are included in the project, and over 100 farmers from Mokrin are expected to join by the end of the project implementation. The project will improve all social aspects of living in a village and prevent migration. The goal is to also transfer good practices to other villages in the future.

 

In 2018, the BioSense Institute launched the First Digital Farm within the ANTARES project, which has so far yielded excellent results in terms of knowledge transfer and educating farmers. The idea is for the First Digital Farm to evolve into the Digital Village concept.