This may be the creation of a new and potentially very interesting application of 3D laser scanning. As we know LiDAR has finally delivered on the promise of remote sensing for the forestry industry with the ability to determine the volume of a forest stand.
For those old enough to remember the hype surrounding precision agriculture in the early days of GPS this may be deja vu all over again, but this time it’s the use of 3D laser scanning to monitor crop health. Can you say BIG market?
German seed breeder Strube is pioneering the use of in-field 3D laser scanning equipment to monitor crop growth and improve seed quality for sugar beet growers. The continuous flow scanner can be put in the field and constantly monitors crop growth characteristics such as cotyledon length and expanded leaf area – completely non-destructively.
“You can get remarkably detailed performance data for each seed, but it’s the information you can get from a population or batch of seed that will allow us to find positive trends and bring improvements to delivered seed,” explains Mr Powell.
How about a new term – 3D Agriculture?
[…] which can help a farmer determine the exact water conditions in his fields. Last week, LidarNews ran a story about a German seed company that is using 3D laser scanning to monitor crop […]
[…] which can help a farmer determine the exact water conditions in his fields. Last week, LidarNews ran a story about a German seed company that is using 3D laser scanning to monitor crop […]