Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has developed a portable test system that can detect the soil condition in 90 seconds by using just five grams of the soil as sample. The mobile application is made user-friendly by the user interface, which is available in local languages.
The mobile application is made user-friendly by the user interface, which is available in local languages.PTI FILE Lucknow: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has developed a portable test system that can detect the soil condition in 90 seconds by using just five grams of the soil as sample.In a statement published here, the IIT-Kanpur said that this first-of-its-kind invention is based on near Infrared spectroscopy technology that delivers real-time soil analysis report on smartphones with an embedded mobile application, named Bhu Parikshak, available on Google Play Store.According to the statement, the technology has been transferred to an agri-tech firm, AgroNxt Services Private Limited.
Once the soil is poured into a 5 cm-long cylindrical shape device, it connects itself to the smartphone via Bluetooth and begins monitoring the soil for 90 seconds.The findings are shown on the screen as a soil health report, which can be accessed on the Bhu Parikshak cloud service with a unique ID.The survey also includes a suggested amount of fertilisers.The unit can detect six important soil characteristics, including nitrogen, potassium, and organic carbon. According to the IIT-Kanpur, the simple soil testing system would assist individual farmers in determining the soil health parameters of agricultural fields using the recommended fertilizer doses.The unit can test up to one lakh soil test samples, the highest test capability of any device among its predecessors.According to the release, the mobile application is made user-friendly by a user interface, which is available in local languages, so that even a Class 8 passout can safely use the device and the mobile application.Farmers are our caretakers, according to Institute Director Abhay Karandikar, and they face a lot of hardships. That will no longer be a pain.Prof Jayant Kumar Singh from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Pallav Prince, Ashar Ahmad, Yashasvi Khemani, and Mohd Aamir Khan directed the device.According to the newspaper, the theory for it stemmed from the widespread perception of a common problem, in which a farmer must wait up to a fortnight for receiving soil health certificates from distant district soil testing laboratories, which takes a lot of people and resources.