CROP SCOUTING
The farming industry worldwide is beginning to more actively deploy technology to better measure and assess plant health. More information will allow:
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Better decision making regarding application of water, fertilizers and pesticides.
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Yield estimation so that harvesting teams can be more effectively deployed and pricing/supply decisions can be better forecasted.
Sensing and vision technologies are currently being deployed by hand, secured to large farm equipment and through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). However, each of these methods has constraints in terms of scalability and the types of information that can be obtained. Ground based robots, carrying sensors will play a critical role in more effectively gaining this information in the future.