Tech products at Plantation Expo reflect shift to smart farming
Trivandrum / February 19, 2023
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 19: A long inventory of innovative and technologically advanced products showcased at the Plantation Expo that concluded at the Sooryakanthi Exhibition Grounds here on Sunday reflected the fast transition to smart farming practices and their increasing adoption by planters.
Agrim-X, the world’s first computer vision-based crop protection drone developed by SUIND, aimed at bringing smartest crop protection systems to the world, was a major attraction of the technology segment of the expo.
The drone enables an advanced crop spraying solution that can spray medicines in a targeted, precise manner, even in the most challenging conditions.
By the help of powerful vision and AI systems, this sprayer with 10 litre capacity can operate without manual piloting or intervention on plantations located in any terrain. It comes with the ability to maintain precise distance to crops, automatic re-routing around obstacles and safe take-off and landing, which together will increase the efficacy of spraying besides making it easy for farmers to operate.
A team including Kunal Shrivastava, Kevin Kleber, Ashish Ranjan Jha, Alexander Held, Davide Scaramuzza, Raghav Reddy, and K Chetan Kumar is behind this innovative product.
Another eye grabbing item on display was Agro-Nxt BhuParikshak, a small soil testing device, developed by Uttar Pradesh based AgroNxt Services Private Ltd. This IoT driven, chemical-free, portable and real-time soil testing device, ensures results in 90 seconds. The device tests the presence of organic matter contents in soil like nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Only a 15-minute training would be required for a farmer to use this portable device weighing less than 250gms, which can conduct over 250 tests per day.
Products made out of Nitrosamine free latex, a unique product from Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, also attracted the visitors. Nitrosamine free latex which forms an alternative to harmful components which may even cause cancer, is used in baby products as well as health and beauty care products, besides, high technology dipped goods such as gloves, condoms, catheters, medical tubes, carpet backings and foam mattresses.
Tamil Nadu based Mobitech Wireless Solutions has brought a one-stop solution for irrigation automation, through an IoT driven mobile application named DCON (Digital Control of Irrigation). Through the app, farmers without visiting the farm can regulate precision irrigation and fertigation to their crops by sitting at home. At a time up to five people can control the irrigation system of a farm using this app. Also, it helps to identify the climate of the farm and adjust irrigation accordingly. The app offers features like automated weather station, fertigation automation, soil moisture sensor, automatic irrigation solenoid valve, automatic filter backwash, digital level indicator, and flow meter.
The expo featured over 100 stalls showcasing the products and services of relating to the plantation sector.
Public entry was free for the expo on all days from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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