AgroScout

Current scouting is carried out manually by agronomists who only cover between 5% and 10% of the field. This often results in late detection of diseases and pests, causing growers worldwide to lose between 20% and 40% of their yield.

AgroScout is a software company that enables growers to turn a low-cost commercial drone into a digital agronomist, providing pinpoint detection of disease and pests, thereby protecting crops and increasing yield.

In a 20-minute walk, an agronomist may cover about 150 potato plants. In a 20-minute flyover, AgroScout’s semi-autonomous product (demonstrated in a pilot study in potatoes) can cover 10,000 potato plants in 125 acres.

AgroScout’s globally accessible cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) system combines —

• multiple data sources and
• images from low-cost, commercial drones that cover the entire field.

It accurately and autonomously detects, identifies, and monitors diseases, pests, and other agronomic problems in the field from the first acre. Data is uploaded to the cloud and analyzed by AgroScout’s deep learning algorithms to send growers actionable insights to their computer or mobile device, notifying them of disease location and crop status while offering treatment recommendations.

Advantages of the Digital Agronomist

• Disease detection to the accuracy level of the individual plant
• Autonomous disease classification and treatment recommendations
• More efficient and lower cost scouting and detection from the early disease stages
• Complete field coverage in area and frequency
• Optimized crop protection applications
• Increased crop yields and improved crop quality

IP

Patent pending in the United States

AgroScout CEO Simcha Shore was a speaker and an exhibitor, Commercial UAV EXPO Europe, Amsterdam, 8-10 April 2019.

AgroScout CEO Simcha Shore presents at the Axis Tel Aviv event, 13-14 February 2019.

AgroScout CEO Simcha Shore (2nd from right) presents to the head of the Ukrainian Potato Institute and the head of the Ukrainian Agricultural Research Agency at AGRO-2018, Kiev, 6-9 June 2018.

• Carried out a soft launch of semi-autonomous product in the United States, working with local growers, two field researchers, and a large U.S. potato grower association
• 2018-2019 Completed beta testing in Israel and the United States, including a pilot case study in potatoes field trials in the United States (potatoes)
• Successful working prototype

Opportunity: AgroScout’s proprietary, globally accessible, cloud-based, AI software collects relevant information in the field, integrates external data (together with deep learning and computer vision) to accurately and autonomously detect, identify, and monitor diseases, pests, and other agronomic problems in the field. The field information is delivered to customers immediately and reliably, for increased savings from the first acre.

AgroScout is now funding. See the presentation (PDF). Send more information about AgroScout.

AgroScout’s first target for its early detection and monitoring of crop diseases is potatoes.

Farms are losing a significant percentage (about 20%) of their yield to disease. At the same time, farmers are looking to reduce the amount of chemical pesticides and fungicides used to treat disease to lower high pesticide costs and comply with increasing regulations.

Today, scouts perform visual checks in different parts of the field every few days. However, this provides limited coverage (between 5% and 10%), so diseases are often detected only at later stages when its has spread and caused significant damage. New technologies gaining traction include drones for aerial imaging and in-field precision ag systems/apps; yet, none offer the efficient, accurate, and complete coverage needed to catch disease at the earliest stages.

AgroScout’s first target is the potato market, the fourth most important crop in the world. Initial geographic markets are the United States and Western Europe, together more than 1 million hectares. The company has started working on offering AI protection to soybeans and wheat.