AgriRover

Sustainable agriculture is continually being pushed to deliver higher yield with the need to feed 9.6 billion people by 2050. UK wheat farming currently produces c.9 tonnes per hectare. Researchers believe 20 tonnes per hectare is achievable. Reaching this will increase the competitiveness of UK agriculture and meet a societal need. High resolution soil and crop condition data can help achieve this increase in yield. Currently around 5 samples per field are acquired once every two years. Technology developed for autonomous planetary rovers can significantly increase the spatial and temporal resolution of these samples. An autonomous rover will traverse across the field and collect samples at multiple locations. These will then be analysed locally. The use of autonomous systems will significantly reduce the cost of soil sampling. More samples will be able to be analysed and fertiliser deployed in a more targeted fashion. The AgriRover project will assess the market for the product and set requirements for it. The technical feasibility of the system will then be assessed. The critical elements will be demonstrated in a field trial at the end of the project. The results will then be used to demonstrate the business case.