Source: NCSU, 6/9/20



Being able to identify crop problems early can make the difference between saving a crop and losing it, but high-tech solutions can be costly. An interdisciplinary team of researchers thinks a new approach leveraging existing technology may be part of the solution.

Specifically, NC State researchers in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are launching an inexpensive camera system that can monitor crop stress remotely.

Corn and soybeans are important commodities for North Carolina and the world. Both are eaten fresh, processed into a variety of foodstuffs and turned into animal feed. A lack of water at certain stages stress the plants, and can make a significant dent on yields.
Paula Ramos-Giraldo, a computer vision and machine learning expert in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, has spent the past year working on a camera system that costs less than an average smartwatch to track drought stress in corn and soybean fields.

“Our goal, specifically, was to construct a low-cost sensor to track the soil moisture level in the field through plant behavior,” Ramos-Giraldo said.

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