Tech Help for Thirsty Plants

“This device is very precise, and will allow a plant to receive just the right amount of water,” said Hans-Dieter Seelig, a research associate at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s  BioServe Space Technology Center, in a news release. “If a plant can tell a water valve when to open and when to close, farmers are going to save a lot of money.”

With Colorado producing four leading crops of corn, wheat, hay, and potatoes, it is no wonder that their 30,000 farms and ranches and 30.7 million acres of agriculture land are able to produce about 105,000 agriculture jobs. With this in mind, it is exciting that the University of Colorado-Boulder invented a little sensor to clip on leaves, “measuring the leave’s thickness and corresponding need for water,” according to CBS News on June 15, 2007. From there, the data is sent wirelessly to irrigation systems.

Exclusive rights belong to AgriHouse Inc., which is a high-tech company in Colorado, and is able to negotiate a license for the sensor’s technology for next year. Existing sensors and technologies, such as the soil moisture sensors, are not accurate in the provided information, according to Richard Stoner, founder and president of AgriHouse. The difference between the old sensors and the latest developmental ones, is that the latest device is now a non-intrusive device that treats the plant in a gentle manner in order to interface with the world of digital information. It is nothing short of a miracle, for both plants and man for communication of needs for watering and the application of fertilizers.

AgriHouse, the parent company of Aeroponics International licensed, is also known for researching agriculture products for advanced agriculture technology for Earth and Space. Both companies offer NASA funded and developed high performance food production systems and bio-controls. They also produce USDA National Organic Program Certified “All Natural Plant Amendment” that is a liquid concentrate proven by NASA on the MIR Space Station and the Space Shuttle for vegetables, fruits, citrus, field crops, and many more.