Feasibility studies for early, in-situ diagnostic tools for water and soil sensing for agri-tech

FungiAlert是一种田间早期检测土壤和水中植物病害的设备。它可以被描述为农民的烟雾探测器，因为它在疾病传播并摧毁整个田地之前警告用户感染的风险。用户只需将设备放入土壤或水灌溉系统，他们就会收到破坏性植物病原体存在的警报，使他们能够及时采取补救行动，防止病原体传播到田地的其余部分。FungiAlert的目标是提高作物产量，同时也允许基于证据的喷洒，以最终减少我们食物链中的杀虫剂数量。FungiAlert设备将帮助用户定制他们的疾病管理实践，帮助提高他们的产量，同时降低他们的生产成本。精准农业(如FungiAlert)指导使用杀虫剂也有助于减少疾病对杀虫剂产生抗药性的机会。该项目旨在采用我们目前的技术(土壤传感)来检测土壤和水中的孢子。此外，该项目还将探讨纳入无线遥感技术的不同战略的可行性，这将使收集数据和存储与疾病存在有关的信息成为可能。我们设想，我们的技术可以整合到世界各地的耕作实践中，使农民和种植者能够以负担得起的和直观的方式，随时了解他们田地内土壤的健康状况。

FungiAlert is an in-field, early detection device for plant disease in soil and water. It can be described as the smoke detector for farmers, since it alerts the user about the risk of infection before the disease spreads and destroys the entire field. The user simply places the device into the soil or water irrigation system, and they will be alerted to the presence of destructive plant pathogens, allowing them to take timely remedial action, preventing the spread of the pathogen to the rest of the field. FungiAlert aims to increase crop yields, whilst also allowing for evidence based spraying, to ultimately reduce the amount of pesticides in our food chain. The FungiAlert device will help the user to tailor their disease management practices, helping to increase their yields, while reducing their production costs. The guided use of pesticides by precision farming (such as FungiAlert) could also contribute towards reducing the chance of diseases developing resistance to pesticides. The project aims to adapt our current technology (soil sensing) for the detection of spores in both soil and water. Furthermore, the project will also explore the feasibility of different strategies for including wireless remote sensing technology, which would allow for data collection and storage of information relating to the presence of disease. We envisage that our technology could be integrated into farming practices around the world, allowing farmers and growers to understand the health of the soil within their fields at all times, in an affordable and intuitive way.