Nosy machine gets deep into the soil: a soil electronic nose is almost farm-ready

An electronic nose that will help farmers assess soil conditions on-the-spot is almost farm-ready but is on the lookout for commercial backers.

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) has moved into the next phase of development for bringing a practical on-farm tool to market that will help Australian growers to better understand and manage the health of their soils.

The QUOLL e-nose is an emerging soil sensing technology that is designed to rapidly measure biological activity and provide real time insights from the field.

Using an electronic nose, the device detects volatile compounds released by soil microbes and provides growers with fast and accurate information about soil health that can inform management decisions.

Research trials have been carried out on commercial farms and TIA director Mike Rose said the next step was to bring it to market.

“This technology has potential to give growers a fast and affordable way to understand the biological activity in their soils. Laboratory samples can often take weeks to return results, whereas the QUOLL e-nose can provide insights within minutes,” he said.

Professor Rose said the TIA was looking for partners interested in helping take the technology from advanced research prototype into a commercial device.

The Co-operative Research Centre for High Performance Soils chief executive Michael Crawford said the future of the QUOLL e-nose was in very capable hands.

“With the TIA team and a strong commercial partner, we anticipate that the device will soon make the leap from a research setting into working farms,” he said.

For more information, contact Shane Powell shane.powell@utas.edu.au or Simon Edwards simon.edwards@utas.edu.au.