IBM develops soil testing tool

Sep 06, 2018

The AgroPad allows for real-time on-location results

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A computer manufacturer has developed a soil testing tool for farmers.

IBM has introduced a prototype of the AgroPad, a paper device about the size of a business card. Producers place a drop of water or a small amount of soil on one side of the pad.

On the back of the AgroPad is a set of circles, each representing a nutrient in the sample. The circles measure pH, nitrogen dioxide, aluminum, magnesium and chlorine. But each pad could be personalized based on the needs of the farmer, IBM said.

The circles will change colour during the test, which helps farmers understand the amount of each nutrient in the sample.

Producers then take a photo of the paper using their smartphones and use the AgroPad smartphone app to receive comprehensive results from the test.

Inside the paper is a microfluidics (the study of systems that can process small quantities of fluids) chip which can provide sample results in about 10 seconds.

“Environmental analysis for agriculture often relies on expensive and time-consuming laboratory tests performed far away from the farm,” Mathias Steinger, manager of industrial technology and science with IBM Brazil, said in a release yesterday. “As a result, chemical analysis is quickly outdated and limited to small sample numbers.”

The tests are automatically geotagged and stored in the cloud, allowing farmers to review historical data.

IBM is looking for partners to help with further testing.

“The next step will allow us to validate and scale the technology and increase the maturity of the research protoype,” Steiner told Computer Business Review yesterday.

IBM photo

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