IIT Kanpur develops portable device that can detect soil health in just 90 seconds

The device can detect six important soil parameters: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon, clay contents, and cation exchange capacity. It also recommends the required dose of fertilisers for the field and crops. 

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has developed a portable soil testing device that can detect soil health in just 90 seconds through an embedded mobile application. 

The technology titled Portable Soil Testing Device or BhuParikshak will assist individual farmers in obtaining soil health parameters of agricultural fields with the recommended dose of fertilisers. 

Get real-time soil analysis reports on smartphones

The first-of-its-kind invention is based on Near Infrared Spectroscopy technology that provides real-time soil analysis reports on smartphones with an embedded mobile application named BhuParikshak available on Google Play Store. 

The device can detect six important soil parameters: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon, clay contents, and cation exchange capacity. It also recommends the required dose of fertilisers for the field and crops. 

“Farmers are our caretakers. But they face a lot of hardships. One such hardship is getting their soil tested and wait for the results for days. That will not be a hassle anymore. I am delighted for the team from IIT Kanpur for developing such a novel device that will assist individual farmers in assessing the health of their soil in almost no time," Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT-K, said in a statement. 

The device can test up to one lakh soil test samples, which is the highest testing capability of a soil testing device among its predecessors. 

How it works 

• The portable and wireless soil testing device requires a mere five grams of dry soil sample to detect macronutrients present in the soil.  
• Once the soil is added to the 5 cm long cylindrical shaped device, it connects itself with the mobile through Bluetooth and analyses the soil for 90 seconds. 
• After the analysis, the results appear on the screen in a soil health report accessible on the BhuParikshak cloud service with a unique ID. The report also comes with a recommended dose of fertilisers. 

User-friendly mobile application 

The institute said the mobile application is made user-friendly through the user interface available in local languages. Even a class 8 pass person can easily handle the device and the mobile application. 

The rapid soil testing technology has been transferred to an agritech company named AgroNxt Services, which will aid in the manufacturing and marketing the device to farmers. 

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