This not only preserves the cultural and environmental identity of the territories but also creates opportunities for social innovation projects that respond to local needs, promoting a new ethic of agricultural development based on cooperation and inclusivity.<\/p>\n\n
Unfortunately, we know this is not happening.<\/p>\n\n
Access to data is often inhibited, difficult, and not shared.<\/p>\n\n
Often due to the will of the device manufacturer, but even more often due to the agricultural company itself. <\/p>\n\n
On one hand, an increasingly aggressive approach sees players in the agri-tech world selling services rather than products.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n What does this mean: the end user incurs fewer costs and lower investments, but the data collected on their field\u2014which represents added value of the installation, capable of generating predictive and site-specific models\u2014is not shared transparently. <\/p>\n\n This lays the groundwork for the agritech servitization of data.<\/p>\n\n (What does servitization<\/strong> mean? See: Il Post<\/a>, Wikipedia<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n Unfortunately, in the agricultural sector, only the large players adopting new approaches are (understandably? Yes \/ No? You decide) not yet willing to share important data for their companies\u2014data that is, however, relevant to the community. All of this is the preamble, because the real topic of this article is the adoption of a new measuring tool: a smart leaf. <\/p>\n\n This is, in fact, an example\u2014and a savings estimate\u2014of funding. <\/p>\n\n From the paper<\/a> \u201cA novel low-cost smart leaf wetness sensor\u201d<\/em> (December 2017), we read the proposal for a low-cost leaf wetness sensor based on an innovative electronic interface circuit. <\/p>\n\n It\u2019s no surprise that this sensor was proposed by a Spanish team: many of the leading IoT research efforts are based in the Iberian Peninsula\u2014one of the most historic? Libelium.<\/a><\/p>\n\n This sensor uses a capacitive detection method via charge transfer implemented in a microcontroller, significantly reducing costs compared to commercial models, which often exceed $100 USD. The system consists of artificial leaves made on affordable substrates and integrated circuits capable of accurately calculating leaf wetness duration (LWD), a crucial aspect for plant disease management and epidemic forecasting\u2014two of the most common in Italy being downy mildew and powdery mildew. <\/p>\n\n The main innovation lies in the simplicity and efficiency of the interface circuit, which enables reliable results in both lab and field conditions. Experimental tests have shown that the proposed sensor is highly sensitive and outperforms commercial devices in terms of accuracy and versatility. Additionally, its compact design allows for adaptability to other sensors capable of monitoring additional environmental parameters, such as temperature and solar radiation. <\/p>\n\n Thanks to its low cost and ability to simultaneously measure multiple artificial leaves with different orientations, this sensor offers significant potential for precision agriculture and large-scale monitoring networks. This system represents a step forward in improving understanding of leaf wetness cycles and their implications in agricultural systems, promoting widespread use of technology in field applications. <\/p>\n\n Now: this paper will turn 7 in about a month, and in recent years we\u2019ve seen a price drop in leaf wetness sensors, also known as \u201csmart leaves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n During my recent trip to Shenzhen, I got my hands on a smart leaf sensor<\/a> that I\u2019ll be testing. <\/p>\n\n But let\u2019s not get ahead of ourselves.<\/strong> These sensors still don\u2019t have widespread market adoption, and (as far as I can find) there are no comparative field trials.<\/p>\n\n Spoiler alert: if you\u2019re in, let\u2019s do it!<\/strong><\/p>\n\nOn the other hand, there\u2019s the culture of the farmer. <\/h2>\n\n
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