In September 2019, the Uruguayan Wool Secretariat (SUL), as a representative of the National Strategic Plan for the Ovine Industry (PENRO), presented a project for “Applied Technology for Enhanced Competitiveness in the Ovine Chain – Integrated System for the Ovine Industry (SIRO)” as part of a request for proposals for public goods by the National Development Agency (ANDE).

The project was approved and work began in March 2020. After a year of work, we now have:

  • A technological platform that incorporates different management processes associated with the ovine industry in order to improve the information available and its processing.
  • This platform will make it possible to plan, manage, and coordinate activities and actions aimed at lifting restrictions and challenges in Uruguayan ovine production through transversal and inter-institutional cooperation and data universalisation.
  • This project seeks to address two issues: one specific to the ovine sector associated with the systematisation of information derived from the conditioning of wool, and another more general objective related to national livestock activity with data about cattle rustling and predator attacks.

Specifically regarding wool conditioning, this tool makes it possible to digitally record data from the weighing sheets in the shearing machines once they have harvested the wool on the premises, either with Green or Yellow Seal.

Once the data is digitised in the system, the producer can access it individually and confidentially using the available platform, which can be accessed through both PCs and mobile phones.

Producers will be incorporated as users and notified once the shearing machine provides the data to the SUL team tasked with administering the platform.

The digital and online environments available to access and manage information will be:

  • Website: publicly accessible, where general information on the main variables associated with the wool conditioning process will be available, including the status of the shearing season with data on the volume sheared nationally and by province, both with Yellow and Green Seal.
  • Web system for internal use, which can only be accessed by producers who have conditioned their shearing machines and entrepreneurs who have been registered as users by the administrative team.
  • Application for mobile devices for the exclusive use of shearing machines that are supervised and enabled by the SUL. These machines will enter the shearing data from the establishment to make it available on the website.

What benefits are expected from this SIRO Module?

  • An online platform to present all of the available information on a wool lot in a unified way (producer details, establishment location, lot weight with measurement of main characteristics).
  • Information to be used as input for identification and access to lots that achieve different types of certifications as an aspect of growing demand from brands that use wool fibre in their collections.
  • General geo-referenced information on shearing progress freely available on the Web platform.
  • Information will be available for use in processes associated with lot traceability and to provide the necessary documentation for the chain of custody.
  • Similarly, spatial and geo-referenced information will be available in real time on the progress of the shearing season.
  • To establish a stronger relationship between shearing companies and producers to facilitate the adoption of both Green and Yellow Seal.

 

Source: SUL

Maria de la Paz Bottaro BA – pbottaro@sul.org.uy
Economic Department