CropScope: Saving water and boosting yield

AI makes watering decisions based on the field environment. (Image source: NEC Corporation)

Kagome Co., Ltd., NEC Corporation and DXAS Agricultural Technology LDA have commercially introduced an agricultural ICT platform, ‘CropScope,’ to large-scale tomato fields in northern Italy and Portugal
The platform which combines AI farming advice and automatic irrigation control functions, is compatible with pulse drip irrigation, a cultivation method in which the amount of water and fertiliser required by a crop is given in many portions, and the optimum amount of soil moisture for the crop is maintained.
By expanding the areas in which CropScope is introduced, the three companies aim to contribute to sustainable agriculture by promoting environmentally friendly and profitable farming. They have also confirmed reproducibility and are effectively responding to water shortages at farming sites, which are challenges faced around the world.
Results from a field trial of CropScope in northern Italy found that using the technology helped increase yield by about 23% with about 19% less irrigation, compared to a field that did not introduce the platform. It was confirmed that this system would produce good results even in new cultivation environments where climates, soil, etc. differed from those in the regions where CropScope was previously introduced.
The three companies plan to incorporate the knowledge gained from this initiative into the machine-learning of CropScope, and to improve the accuracy of AI farming advice and strengthen solutions by repeating field trials and increasing reproducibility. In addition, DXAS will reinforce its support for agricultural management by spreading this service to the worldwide processing tomato market.
"Congratulations to CropScope and its cutting-edge technology, in collaboration with agronomist instructions, the platform has obtained meaningful results from this campaign in fields of significant size,” said CEO of Herdade do Caldas in Portugal, João Geada. “The industrial tomato crop is one of the most difficult to produce, especially in the current unstable farming environment, which is why the support provided by CropScope is so needed for daily control of fields.”
For more information, visit: https://www.nec.com