EXPERTS in soil and root health and sensor technology are working together on a new three-year project called TRUTH (Thriving Roots Underpinning Total soil Health), which has received £1M Defra funding,
They will work alongside growers who conduct trials on their own farms with the goal of identifying the tools they need to assess their crop roots and quantify the impact of their farming system.
A key part of this will be developing a novel sensor, developed by PES Technologies, capable of ‘smelling’ a soil’s biological signature.
Cutting-edge UK ag-tech tools are coming together with research and development expertise to help growers discover more about the role roots play in maintaining healthy soils.
Soil degradation currently costs England and Wales £1.2 billion every year, but few tools have been developed to measure soil and root health and how they interact.
Tom Allen-Stevens of BOFIN (British On-Farm Innovation Network), which is leading on farmer engagement for the project, said:
“Healthy soils play an important role in food production, climate change mitigation, and maintaining biodiversity. However, what goes unrecognised is the role of the roots that weave their way through them, drawing nutrients, transferring carbon, providing life to the complex microbiome that lies unseen beneath our feet.
“What we’ve brought together with TRUTH is some really exciting, cutting-edge technology that can open a window on this unexplored world.
“In addition, there are many desirable traits that rely on the interactions between crop and soil, such as drought tolerance, performance in marginal situations, nitrate modulation, and soil carbon sequestration. Through TRUTH, we will get a better understanding of the interactions that would enable breeders to identify the genes responsible. These can then be brought into breeding lines and help identify bioproducts that consistently enhance performance.”
TRUTH is funded by the Farming Futures R&D fund, part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, and Innovate UK is delivering the programme.
The three-year, £1 million project will build on work already carried out by PES Technologies to develop its soil health sensor to enable it to measure microbial diversity and fungal:bacterial ratio.
Working closely with leading scientists at University of Nottingham and John Innes Centre, it will create the ‘Root Rangers Platform’, an online space offering on-farm soil/root health testing tools validated during the project by the farmers taking part.
“The project outcomes will deliver farmers the tools they need to assess their crop roots and quantify the impact of their farming system on soil health,” said Tom.
TRUTH will be led by BOFIN alongside PES Technologies, CHAP Agri-Tech Centre, John Innes Centre and University of Nottingham.
