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Smart sensor pokes plants' leaves to let farmers know if they're stressed | A new plant-leaf-poking sensor could soon help them do so, by sending an alert as soon as the plant gets stressed.
The sooner a farmer knows that their crops are suffering, the faster they can take action to prevent major crop failure. A new plant-leaf-poking sensor could soon help them do so, by sending an alert as soon as the plant gets stressed.
Developed by Prof. Liang Dong and colleagues at Iowa State University, it takes the form of a flat, flexible polymer patch with array of tiny gold-coated " microneedles" along its underside. When the device is pressed onto a plant's leaf, the microneedles harmlessly pierce the very top layer of tissue, coming into contact with the sap contained within. If that signal is strong enough to indicate that trouble is brewing, a hardwired battery/electronics module will send an alert to the farmer's mobile device via Bluetooth, or to their home computer via Wi-Fi or existing wireless networks.
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