Turning Plants into Living Sensors: Making Farming More Sustainable with Shely Aronov, Founder and CEO of InnerPlant
Aug 17, 2023
auto_awesome
Shely Aronov, Founder and CEO of InnerPlant, discusses using plants as living sensors to improve agriculture. They cover topics like detecting plant health, reducing chemical usage, and balancing agricultural yield with social impact and environmental sustainability.
Interplant turns crops into living sensors for sustainable agriculture, improving biodiversity, climate change impacts, and agricultural yields.
Interplant utilizes satellite imagery and hyperspectral cameras to detect plant stress, enabling targeted interventions and reducing chemical usage for optimized resource usage and crop yields.
Deep dives
Transforming Agriculture with Plant Sensors
Interplant, led by CEO Shelley Aranov, is revolutionizing agriculture by turning plants into living sensors. With plants that can communicate their specific needs, farmers can optimize resource usage, reduce losses to pests and diseases, and improve yields. By detecting early signs of stress, such as fungal pressure or nitrogen deficiency, Interplant's technology enables targeted interventions, eliminating the need for unnecessary chemicals. The goal is to embed this technology in the seeds farmers already buy, providing them with actionable data and seamless integration into existing farming practices. The impact could be massive, increasing food production without expanding agricultural land, reducing environmental harm, and ensuring a more sustainable future.
The Power of Satellite Imaging and Onboard Hardware
Interplant utilizes satellite imaging to detect signs of stress in crops. With advances in hyperspectral cameras and spectrometers, Interplant can distinguish the unique spectral signatures of plants' fluorescence signals and differentiate them from sunlight. By subtracting the sunlight from the plant's signal, Interplant can identify stress indicators and provide farmers with critical insights. The technology can be integrated into tractors and sprayers equipped with cameras and sensors, allowing for precise and targeted interventions. Onboard image processing and advanced hardware enable farmers to optimize resource usage, reduce chemical applications, and enhance crop yields.
Scaling Impact and Overcoming Challenges
Interplant aims to scale its impact by partnering with seed companies and existing agricultural technology providers. By incorporating their technology into the seeds farmers purchase, Interplant ensures a seamless and effortless adoption process. The ultimate vision is to have their technology deployed on millions of acres, transforming the way agriculture operates on an industrial scale. However, there are challenges to overcome, including regulatory approvals for genetically engineered crops, complex system integration, and navigating the dynamic agricultural industry. Despite these hurdles, the progress made, collaborations established, and new technologies emerging in the sector create an optimistic outlook for Interplant and its mission to revolutionize agriculture.
The Urgency to Address Climate Change and Feed a Growing Population
Shelley Aranov highlights the pressing global challenges of climate change, the need to feed a growing population, and the potential consequences of inaction. Agriculture, responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions, presents vast inefficiencies and risks. Interplant's technology can address these issues by optimizing resource usage, reducing pesticide and fertilizer misuse, and mitigating the loss of crops to pests and diseases. As the world faces the depletion of arable land and the degradation of soils, the scale of impact that Interplant envisions is immense. By enhancing agricultural practices and embracing sustainable solutions, Interplant aims to ensure a productive future for agriculture while protecting natural systems and addressing the urgency of climate change.
In this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, Dylan is joined by Shely Aronov, Founder and CEO of InnerPlant. This Agritech company turns crops into living sensors for a triple win of improving biodiversity, impacting climate change, and improving agricultural yields.
Join us as we cover multiple touchpoints around how addressing agricultural inefficiencies positively impacts climate change. Listen to the podcast to learn how satellite imagery, hyperspectral cameras, and collecting genomic data can help detect plant health and reduce chemical usage for a cleaner and greener environment. Learn how InnerPlant is overcoming the challenge of balancing agricultural yield with social impact and environmental sustainability.
Shely Aronov is an experienced entrepreneur who thrives on solving complex and meaningful problems. She believes no other industry is more critical to our society than agriculture. Shely’s mission at InnerPlant is to develop tools that will help feed the world sustainably while driving a positive environmental impact.
Hardware to Save a Planet is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Previous guests include: Peter Reinhardt of Charm Industrial, Carlos Araque of Quaise, Noah McQueen of Heirloom, Areeb Malik of Glacier, Jeff Satwicz of Bigbelly, Abe Schneider of Natel Energy, Insiya Jafferjee of Shellworks, Paul Gross of Remora, Erika Boeing of Accelerate Wind and Daniel Betts of Blue Frontier.
If you have an interesting hardware solution to the climate crisis and would like the opportunity to share this with our audience, please complete this Guest Application form: https://fame.so/syn
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode