R&D 100 winner of the day: The NIRCrop Scanner, Handheld Sensor for Screening Crop Quality

The traditional method for evaluating crop quality is to send samples to a lab for testing, which is costly and time-consuming. The agriculture industry has a clear need for a user-friendly technology that provides crop composition analysis — i.e., quality evaluation — in situ and at a reasonable price. The NIRCrop Scanner, Handheld Sensor for Screening Crop Quality, from the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC), meets that demand. The process is quick, simple and inexpensive. It allows farmers to evaluate their own products’ quality — on the spot and within seconds. The technology uses NIR spectroscopy to detect protein, starch, amino acids and a range of other nutrients. The device can be operated with a smartphone app, has an easy-to-use interface and generates results in a clear format. Farmers, crop distributors and food producers can all benefit from this technology. Farmers can make informed and timely decisions to improve the quality of the harvest, and the technology can also be used at point of sale.