Dr. Mohammed Elmorsy sees the way farmers tend to crops like a parent caring for a baby. “You need to understand how to feed it,” he explains. “You need to make sure that everything is perfect in order to grow it and to maintain it.”
In a recent episode of the Office of Research Services’ Research Recast(ed) podcast, the associate professor of computer science spoke to host Kelsie Johnston about the development of Agrilo, an app he co-created that tests soil health in real time using artificial intelligence (AI). The interdisciplinary project involved 30 student researchers, who have been able to see the real-world impacts of their work.
The idea for the app, says Dr. Elmorsy, came from three problems farmers currently face: fertilizer costs, environmental impacts and the need for higher yields. Soil samples can be sent to labs to test for what nutrients may be lacking, but those tests take time and money. Agrilo produces results in minutes, eliminating those barriers for farmers in remote or underserved areas.
“Our AI system not only analyzes the sensor data to give you the nutrition levels, but it will also give you some actionable recommendations on exactly what to do with your soil in order to maximize your crop, and to minimize the amount of payment needed for fertilization,” says Dr. Elmorsy.
Farmers can take their own soil samples and mix them with ionized water, then use a reactant that changes the colour of the solution. Agrilo then analyzes a photo of that colour to determine any issues with that soil.
While much of the research was done here in Alberta, university researchers in Costa Rica and Africa have also joined the project to potentially expand the app’s uses in the future.
And for now, Dr. Elmorsy sees ways that Agrilo can be used in MacEwan classrooms to teach students across faculties – from app development to AI use to the specific farming needs the app addresses.
“That opens up possibilities for us, because the impact of the STEM education that we saw was equal to the impact of the precision agriculture. Everyone needs to learn more about the environment.”
For more information, head to the Pimasens website.
Watch the full episode:
