Portable soil testing device developed by IIT Kanpur researchers

The Foundation for Innovation and Research in Science and Technology (FIRST-IITK), IIT Kanpur has developed a portable soil testing device that can detect soil health in just 90 seconds through an embedded mobile application. It is a first-of-its-kind innovation based on Near Infrared Spectroscopy technology which is available on Google Play store linked to a mobile application named Earth Checker which provides real-time soil analysis report on smartphone. The technology is titled Portable Soil Testing Equipment i.e. ‘Bhu Parikshak’.

The device was developed by a team comprising Prof Jayant Kumar Singh from Department of Chemical Engineering, Pallav Prince, Ashar Ahmad, Yashasvi Khemani, and Mohd Aamir Khan.

According to the statement, the technology has been transferred to an agri-tech company, AgroNxt Services Private Limited. The portable and wireless soil testing device requires five grams of dry soil as a sample for detecting macronutrients present in it. Once the soil is poured into a 5 cm-long cylindrical-shaped device, it connects itself with the mobile through Bluetooth and starts analyzing the soil for 90 seconds.

After the analysis, the results appear on the screen in the form of a soil health report, which is accessible on the Bhu Parikshak cloud service with a unique ID. The report also comes with a recommended dose of fertilizers. The device can detect six important soil parameters, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and organic carbon. It also recommends the required dose of fertilizers for the field and crops.

The rapid soil testing device will assist individual farmers in obtaining soil health parameters of agricultural fields with recommended doses of fertilisers, the IIT-Kanpur said. The device can test up to one lakh soil test samples, which is the highest testing capability of a device among its predecessors. The mobile application is made user-friendly through the user interface, which is available in local languages, so that even a Class 8 passout can easily handle the device and the mobile application, the statement said.

Institute Director Abhay Karandikar said, "Farmers are our caretakers and they face a lot of hardships. One such hardship is getting their soil tested and waiting for the results for days. That will not be a hassle anymore."

The idea for it arose from the general observation of a common problem, wherein a farmer has to wait up to a fortnight for getting the soil health cards from distant district soil testing laboratories, which takes a considerable workforce and time, the statement said.