TecnoManí – Solutions to evolve

Córdoba's Peanut Cluster, represented by the Argentine Peanut Chamber (Cámara Argentina del Maní), ran TecnoManí, an open innovation program designed to connect the peanut industry with the province's tech ecosystem and develop concrete solutions to its production "pain points." The centerpiece was an in-person event day in Río Cuarto in November 2025 (Espacio Muñiz, capacity 400), but the event was not an end in itself: it was the vehicle for launching an ongoing pipeline of technology projects afterward.

The agenda covered five major groups of real industry challenges: (1) land access, soil and sustainability (carbon capture, degradation, crop rotation); (2) machinery, contractors and field operations (precision weeding technology, yield monitors for peanuts, site-specific farming, digging robots); (3) digital transformation and barriers to AI adoption; (4) Industry 4.0 processes (autonomous quality control, shelling/blanching, plant safety, fire risk reduction, VR for training); and (5) ocean freight (preventing container condensation, predictive logistics, packaging optimization).

The open call brought together four attendee profiles with color-coded badges to make matchmaking easier: peanut companies (120), startups and researchers (180), industry suppliers (50), and public officials plus investment funds (50). The day was split into two blocks (morning: primary production; afternoon: processing, marketing and logistics), with challenge pitches, segmented networking and a keynote on open innovation. Follow-up included one-on-one workshops between companies with challenges and solution providers, and technical working groups for each specific problem.

Universities were brought in through the Rectors' Forum and the Peanut Science and Technology Network. Target: launch at least 6 technology development projects and share results with 80% of the cluster within 24 months. 807,000 (ARS 12.15M non-refundable grant + ARS 23.65M cash co-funding).