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Swiss company launches plant 'electrocardiogram' technology in Argentina
🇦🇷 Argentina /Technology

Swiss company launches plant 'electrocardiogram' technology in Argentina

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Swiss company Vivent Biosignals has launched a plant health monitoring system in Argentina, using small electrodes to detect water or nutrient deficiencies, heat stress, and anticipate diseases up to ten days in advance.
  • The technology employs artificial intelligence to analyze electrical signals from plants, providing real-time alerts to producers via a dashboard that indicates plant stress levels.
  • Vivent Biosignals, with its R&D in Switzerland and commercial offices in the Netherlands, aims to expand its services across Latin America from its new base in Argentina.

A Swiss agtech company, Vivent Biosignals, has introduced a groundbreaking plant health monitoring system in Argentina, which functions like an "electrocardiogram" for crops. This technology allows for real-time detection of issues such as water or nutrient deficiencies, plant responses to heat, and can even anticipate diseases and insect infestations up to ten days before visible symptoms appear.

The system utilizes small electrodes placed on the plant's stem, continuously recording electrical signals. Artificial intelligence then processes this data, transforming it into actionable alerts for farmers. Vivent Biosignals, which has approximately 6,000 sensors currently installed globally and tripled its activity last year, plans to make its first installations in Argentina in September.

The classic approach is to see the symptom of what happened to the plant. It lacked zinc, a white line appears, and that's it. But by then, it's too late. Our most important value is seeing it beforehand.

— Fernando DerossiExplaining the advantage of Vivent Biosignals' early detection technology.

Fernando Derossi, the global CEO and a partner at Vivent Biosignals, explained the system's value during a press event in Buenos Aires. "The classic approach is to see the symptom of what happened to the plant. It lacked zinc, a white line appears, and that's it. But by then, it's too late. Our most important value is seeing it beforehand," he stated.

We were able to see it and tell producers to mitigate it with water.

— Fernando DerossiDescribing how the technology helped producers during European heatwaves.

The company's research and development hub is located in Switzerland, with commercial offices in the Netherlands. The technology involves placing two small electrodes on the stem to capture electrical signals, alongside a sensor that monitors local climate conditions. The AI analyzes this combined information to identify plant stress due to various factors, including lack of water, nutrients, heat, diseases, or pests.

Derossi shared an example from Europe, where sensors detected heat stress in plants within one to two days during recent heatwaves, enabling producers to mitigate the issue with timely watering. The data is presented on an application dashboard using a traffic light system: green indicates normal parameters, yellow signals a change requiring observation, and red denotes a serious problem. The company aims to evolve the tool beyond just reporting issues to recommending specific solutions for producers.

The added value is in telling the producer not only what is happening, but that they can solve it by irrigating, fertilizing, or with a specific product.

— Fernando DerossiHighlighting the company's goal to provide actionable solutions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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