Arboricrop: next generation agriculture using real-time information from trees crops

农业行业正在经历一场革命性的革命，利用新技术和知识提高产量，同时大幅减少对环境的影响，降低生产成本，减少浪费。植物已经进化出了许多在可见症状出现之前很久就能检测和响应逆境的能力，但目前的农学方法主要依赖于熟练的人类在这些问题变得可见时发现它们。一种可以利用植物早期胁迫反应机制的工具将提供宝贵的农学知识来源，通知种植者、农学家或自动化系统更早地应用干预措施，从而将产量损失降至最低，并最大限度地提高效率。植物电生理学是获取植物规模胁迫相关信息的唯一方法。它在控制环境农业中表现出了很好的前景，但它在户外农业中的适用性还需要调查。为了使这项技术得到广泛应用，目前的电生理传感器需要适应田间条件，包括：微型化以提高空间精细度和作物附着性，人体工程学设计有助于农民接受，射频数据通信和太阳能充电能力独立，以及集成到数字农艺系统中，为种植者提供精确控制和价值。为了开发下一代植物电生理传感器(NGE)，我们在英国组建了一个多学科和协作的团队。该项目将由Benchmark Control领导，该公司是一家在传感器制造方面拥有专业知识的电气工程和产品开发公司；禤浩焯·斯克里普斯是英国水果的主要种植商和分销商，具有前瞻性的可持续性方法，将为NGES测试提供果园基础设施；Hutchinsons是一家领先的农学咨询公司，处于开发数字农业平台的前沿，该平台将把NGES的产出整合到用户友好的战略计划中；英国最大的园艺应用研究机构NIAB将进行NGE果园实验并提供项目管理支持。我们的研发方法支持多轮NGE设计和改进、与现有传感器的性能比较、果园树压力检测的受控试验，以及与现有数字农业平台的集成。在成功完成这些任务后，我们的NGE将直接销售给苹果、葡萄、坚果和柑橘等高价值多年生作物的种植者。在英国，采用NGE将通过避免应用不必要的作物保护剂或营养补充剂来降低成本，并通过最大限度地提高产量潜力来增加利润。最终，我们获取植物信息的激进方法将有助于将农业部门转变为我们的社会和环境所需的可持续版本。

The agricultural industry is undergoing a transformative revolution, leveraging new technologies and knowledge to increase yields while dramatically reducing environmental impacts, lowering production costs, and reducing waste. Plants have evolved many capabilities to detect and respond to stress long before visible symptoms appear, yet current agronomic methods rely predominantly on skilled humans detecting these issues once they become visible. A tool that can tap into early plant stress response mechanisms will provide an invaluable source of agronomic knowledge informing growers, agronomists, or automated systems to apply interventions earlier, thereby minimising yield losses and maximising efficiency.Plant electrophysiology is a unique approach to capturing plant-scale stress-related information. It has demonstrated promise in controlled environment agriculture, but its applicability to outdoor farming requires investigation. To make this technology widely adoptable, current electrophysiology sensors need adaptation to field conditions, including: miniaturisation to increase spatial finesse and crop attachment, ergonomic design to aid farmer acceptance, radio-frequency data communication and solar charging capacities for independence, and integration into digital agronomy systems to deliver precision control and value for the growers.To develop the next generation of plant electrophysiological sensors (NGES), we have assembled a multidisciplinary and collaborative team in the UK. The project will be led by Benchmark Control, an electrical engineering and product development firm that has expertise in sensor fabrication; Adrian Scripps is a premier grower and distributor of UK fruit with a forward-thinking approach to sustainability that will provide orchard infrastructure for NGES testing; Hutchinsons is a leading agronomic consulting firm at the forefront of developing digital farming platforms that will integrate NGES outputs into a user-friendly strategic plan; and NIAB, the largest UK research institute conducting applied research in horticulture will conduct the NGES orchard experiments and provide project management support.Our research and development approach enables multiple rounds of NGES design and refinement, performance comparison to currently existing sensors, controlled trials of stress detection in orchard trees, and integration into existing digital farming platforms. After successful completion of these tasks, our NGES will be directly marketable to growers of high-value perennial crops, such as apples, grapes, nuts, and citrus. In the UK, adoption of NGES will reduce costs by avoiding the application of unnecessary crop protection agents or nutritional supplements and increase profits by maximising yield potentials. Ultimately, our radical approach to capturing plant-based information will help transform the agricultural sector into the sustainable version our society and environment needs.