Steve Shirtliffe and his team are developing a system that can identify agronomic information from lower quality satellite images.  |  Janelle Rudolph photo

Crop imagery is an agronomic tool of the future

Steve Shirtliffe’s research shows that aerial imagery isn’t just for farm yards, it can serve a crop production purpose.

People sometimes have the wrong idea about what satellite imagery can do for agriculture, says Steve Shirtliffe, a researcher and professor in the department of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. “I think there’s this idea sometimes that people think that you can just have a bunch of satellites flying around taking pictures, and […] Read more

Satellite data provides Indian farmers with information such as optimal seeding times, weather warnings and better use of irrigation and pesticides.  |  Getty Images

Space data fuels India’s farming innovation drive

The country is focusing heavily on the use of satellite data to solve problems on the ground, with agriculture a key focus

BENGALURU, India (Reuters) — Lokeswara Reddy, an Indian farmer with two decades of experience, has seen his crops flourish after lean years, thanks to earth-observation satellites. Shifting climate patterns, high input costs, a scarcity of labour and erratic weather began to disrupt his earnings about 10 years ago, said Reddy, 52, currently a contract farmer […] Read more

University of Saskatchewan graduate student Kaylie Krys pilots a drone over a Saskatchewan field. She and colleague Erik Andvaag have developed proof-of-concept of a method to rapidly scout fields for canola germination and presence of weeds. Photo:  Chris Hendrickson/University of Saskatchewan

Flying the fields

Researchers are increasingly augmenting the time-honoured practice of walking the fields to check for pest and disease pressure, germination or performance with eyes in the sky such as orbital satellites, drone-mounted cameras and combinations of both. For example, free online tools such as the SKSIS Mapper developed through the University of Saskatchewan’s soil science department […] Read more