An Australian rural startup has devised a planting technique for farmers that can potentially boost crop yields by up to 10% simply by measuring the amount of moisture in the soil when they’re planted.
And with water and the ongoing drought playing a critical role in the viability of local farms, the agtech solution by Orange-based Moisture Planting Technologies (MPT) is like a magic bullet for crop production.
The company has developed a planting system that automatically varies the way seeds are planted based on soil moisture, bypassing the traditional, cumbersome method involving farmers taking manual readings using handheld meters.
MPT co-founder and CEO David Finlay’s solution was to embed moisture sensors in the seeders tines to constantly read the levels in real time. Check happy cleans.