3 ms·

so dumb question, would not some forms of spectral analysis or similar work? This chip solution seems a bit too work intensive for most crops, would not large

• jasonlaramburu 12y ago
  Spectral analysis (via drone, satellite, airplane etc) is good but won't give you the resolution of 1 chip per plant. It does seem labor intensive to implant every plant, but not impossible. Even large farmers trim and take cuttings from individual plants.
  • sparkman55 12y ago
    You can get plenty of resolution off an airplane. I have seen aerial imagery of sufficient resolution to do stand count analysis, which is basically counting individual green shoots of corn in the spring. As another poster mentioned, though, spectral analysis shows problems in the leaves of the plant, where it is too late: if your plant is yellowing due to lack of water or nutrients, you've already decreased the potential yield from that plant. It's better to detect deficiencies in the ground.
• rmason 12y ago
  Assuming you could cost effectively do a spectral analysis it is still not optimal. By the time the plants are showing stress it is past the optimal time to water. The true place for these chips is university and cooperative extension research. By knowing more about how plants use water they might be able to come up with a more easily measurable metric that farmers can use.