What do a quoll, a bilby and a bandicoot have to do with on-farm soil health?
No, we're not referring to the cute Australian marsupials. These are the names of the next-generation soil sensors that have been developed by researchers in the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture's (TIA) Ag Tech Innovation Centre as part of their contribution to the Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils (Soil CRC).
People working in the agricultural industry along with interested community members are invited to an on-farm event in North-West Tasmania this Thursday (1 August 2024) to learn about the development of innovative ag tech solutions.
Dr Simon Edwards, TIA Research Engineer in Agriculture, said the team is working on ag tech developments that are tailored to the needs of Tasmanian farmers.
"We've been developing an electronic nose called the QUOLL® that can detect the aroma of soil and provide a rapid test of soil activity. It can help farmers make informed decisions about how to best manage their soil and be more productive and resilient to environmental changes," Dr Edward said.
The QUOLL® will be deployed at TIA's Vegetable Research Facility at Forthside this week. This will be the first on-farm trial and researchers are eager to collect data and fine-tune the modelling.
Attendees at Thursday's event will have an opportunity to see the device in action. It's also a chance to speak with researchers about hosting a QUOLL® on your property as part of the trial.
"The QUOLL® works by sampling gasses in the soil and is fitted with mini sensors that detect various compounds that are produced by biological activity. It takes a sniff of the soil a couple of times each hour to collect data over a few days that gives us an insight into what is happening in the soil. It's fast and simple to use," Dr Edwards said.
Dr Edwards said farmers intuitively use smell as an indication of soil health. This project takes that to the next level by using an electronic nose that can capture more information about soil biological activity.
"It can reveal when changes in the soil are happening and give famers the opportunity to make an informed choice about land management practices. It removes the need to do soil testing and is easier, faster and hopefully cheaper."
The research team is in the modelling stage and the device is two to five years away from hitting the shelf as a product that farmers can purchase and use on their farms.
This work has been delivered by the Soil CRC whose activities are funded by the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre Program. Learn more about the project.
This next stage of the project is supported by funding from the Tasmanian Government's Agricultural Development Fund and will focus on the potential to use the device to monitor carbon cycling in the soil.
