Z Farms was facing three challenges: costly irrigation systems with water as a limited resource, narrow optimal ranges of soil moisture for growth with difficult maintenance and farm operators could not simply turn on irrigation systems like a faucet.

The quality of asparagus depends heavily on the temperature of the ground in which it’s grown. To control the temperature, farmers use a two-sided sheet of foil: the black side draws in sunlight to increase the heat of the asparagus bed, and the white side reflects light to cool the bed down. In order to make the right “black or white” decision, the farmer needs to measure the temperature of every field at least once each evening.

The global population is continuing to grow at a rapid pace placing increasing demands on the global food supply. In addition, impacts from climate change and a yearly reduction of available arable land will require the Agricultural sector to develop better ways of increasing crop yields and reducing costs. GOAL The goal for the Precision Crop Management Testbed is to create an environment where IoT solutions with the potential to impact world hunger can be developed.