Скачать или смотреть Can this high-tech ‘toothpick’ make farming more sustainable?

We live in a world where farming faces the triple threat of climate change, soil degradation and resource scarcity. So, what if there was a tool that could analyse crop health in real time and feed the data directly to farmers’ phones – helping them reduce the use of vital resources?

RAZOR meets the scientists behind the Italian start-up PlantVoice, which wants to revolutionise sustainable farming with a device resembling a high-tech ‘toothpick’ inserted directly into the plant.

It analyses sap in real time, detecting chemical and physiological changes that could indicate potential problems. This data is then processed by artificial intelligence, which associates each signal with a specific cause.
PlantVoice’s founder Matteo Beccatelli says it’s like conducting an electrocardiogram on a plant: the sensor detects changes in the plant’s health through the sap, and AI acts like a ‘cardiologist’, translating the data into actionable responses. The data and suggestions are fed directly to apps on farmers’ phones.

PlantVoice says their real-time updates can help farmers reduce the use of water, fertilizers and pesticides by up to 40 percent.

RAZOR visits two farms in Sicily to find out how the technology has impacted their lives – and see if it’s one of the many viable solutions needed to make modern agriculture more sustainable.