Sensor Technologies Being Developed to Monitor Crops
Conventional phenotyping is traditionally a visual operation. Disease
symptoms and severity are picked out using standard, labor-intensive
techniques like caliper measurements. However, working with both
row and field crops, Sankaran is developing and integrating sensor
technologies into the monitoring of crop phenotyping to support plant
breeding, plant research, and applications for precision agriculture.
Rather than just leaf-level measurements, she’s using of a range of
sensors that can also measure
product characteristics and use
those to quantify crop stressors and
nutrients. It is making a difference
in predictions and probabilities.
“In Washington state, we have
300 agricultural commodities
from buckwheat to blueberries,
so agriculture is a billion-dollar
business that requires working
closely with breeders in disease
prevention and detection and crop
yield potential,” she says. “We
evaluate many different things, from disease resistance at various
stages of development to a plant’s architecture and its cold tolerance.
Sensors do an unbiased rating of the fruit, eliminating any subjectivity
or personal favoritism in evaluation.”
“WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THIS HUGE
AMOUNT OF DATA? How do you put
it to best use so farmers can treat crops
to improve production and lower the
assault of plant disease agents?”
Maximum Yield
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