NextGenAgri is a start-up company that focuses on enabling Agriculture to evolve through technology led innovation for business growth. NextGenAgri are delivering a range of solutions to overcome the critical challenges faced by the UK agricultural community.

NextGenAgri are currently using a crop monitoring system which gathers data through satellites. This delivers current and historical data on crop growth, soil moisture, and weather forecasting utilising  advanced vegetation indices for maximising yield.

The challenge is that the solution only provides a single method of data capture, through the image analytics and this can be interrupted by weather conditions. To increase the data points for analysis NextGenAgri want to augment the existing data with local infield monitoring using devices and sensors.

NextGenAgri approached the SOLVD team to get a better understanding of the availability of industrialised and ruggedised devices, constraints for operation and communication, and the level of data collection for pre – cultivation, cultivation and post cultivation that are required to positively impact growth.

The SOLVD team suggested the development of a Smart Farming Architecture to obtain more reliable monitoring via a hybrid system; whereby the data will be collected through a satellite system as well as through the sensors in the fields. The sensors are expected to collect the data periodically and transmit it wirelessly to the transceiver. This data is then analysed in the network server and clients will be able to monitor the data through the NextGenAgri dashboard which will be accessible from a computer or through a mobile application.

The SOLVD team recommended the technology required for wireless connectivity to transfer sensors data from the fields to the network server. A work flow was also developed for a prediction model to explain how the collected satellite and sensors data (which includes weather forecast, temperature, moisture, soil PH etc), will be used for diagnostics and optimise crop cultivation.

The SOLVD project is continuing to support NextGenAgri through a longer-term R&D collaboration to further implement the recommendations.

Gillian Nunn, Chief Executive Officer at Next Gen Agri commented:

Working with the SOLVD team has been an amazing experience, we have engaged with the wider team enabling us to build and share the new project with our customers, thanks for your support and help to progress our ability to deliver robust solutions to the Agricultural sector. NextGenAgri Limited would highly recommend working with the SOLVD team for any new or current business enterprise.

Experts from the SOLVD team at the University of Wolverhampton can help your business harness cutting-edge digital technologies to improve your business productivity. (*)

For more information or to discuss your specific requirements, visit www.wlv.ac.uk/SOLVD or contact SOLVD@wlv.ac.uk.

(*) Businesses operating in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin can access 12 hours of fully funded support subject to eligibility. Please contact us for details.