Purdue researchers create ag innovations

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Researchers are developing dozens of agricultural innovations at Purdue University.

Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization has more than 50 ag innovations available to license on its website.

“Farmers, growers and producers have always been among the earliest adopters of new technologies,” said Brooke Beier, senior vice president of commercialization at PRF.

“This is driven by their passion to produce food for all the world’s people in the most sustainable and efficient ways that also protect air, water, land and wildlife.

“Their need to find the best solutions pushes the industry, as well as research conducted by Purdue University researchers. The world-class personnel at Purdue’s College of Agriculture, led by Dean Karen Plaut, are committed to creating practical solutions that can be commercialized by industry and reach the market.”

A dozen ag innovations have been featured. Each is available to license and commercialize.

1. Battery-less, wireless, chip-less sensors for subsoil moisture monitoring: Researchers developed sensors for actively monitoring moisture in sub-layers of soil in agricultural applications. The new, low-cost, noninvasive sensors allow for large-scale determination of soil quality by actively measuring volumetric water content.

2. Determining fertility potential at weaning using lipidome profiles: Researchers developed a new method for determining fertility potential of young female pigs at weaning using lipidome profiles. A screening assay has been created with a rapid vaginal swab test for obtaining lipid samples that can be rapidly characterized for lipidome analysis.

3. Autonomous agricultural vehicle system: Researchers developed a new machine-to-machine system for enhanced grain harvesting efficiency. The technology inputs fill strategy parameters and takes in visual and audio cues from an operator to control the loading, adjust dynamics in plant combines including flow rate, manage plant carts for edges and grain impact points, and conduct cab detection for plant tractors.

4. Sorghum germplasm: Researchers developed a new line of sorghum seeds with enhanced properties. Several ideal plant properties have been achieved in this parent seed line including mold-resistance, drought tolerance and ability to mature earlier than traditional seeds.

5. Novel combination herbicide for weed management: Researchers developed a combination low-dose herbicide. A 10-day study found that the herbicide inhibited root length growth by 50% for Arabidopsis plants.

6. Sustainable platform for high yield terpenoid production: Researchers developed a new biochemical technique for increasing terpenoid yield in plants by up to 130-fold.

7. Alteration of the plant hormone ethylene response to improve stress tolerance: Researchers developed a new method for stress recovery in plants using genetic tools on a negative regulator Constitutive Triple Response 1 orthologs in ethylene signaling pathway. By integrating this technique, crop plants such as tomatoes, potatoes, wheat, rice, cotton and soybeans have potential to recover more quickly in harsh environments.

8. Sensing dust concentration through a mobile application: Researchers developed a mobile phone application using OpenCV algorithms that detect dust concentration. The mobile app uses a smartphone camera to image and sense dust, as well as accurately distinguish it from normal background noise. In testing, the algorithm successfully recognizes 95% of sawdust and 93% of cornstarch particulates in the air.

9. Non-destructive robotic root imaging system for plant health: Researchers created a low-cost robotic arm with a camera extension that images entire areas around soil. The system identifies roots, saves them computationally by location and reconstructs size, shape and depth in 3D.

10. A mechanical device to improve powder flow: Researchers developed a new technology that solves the caking, bridging and ratholing that occurs in powder flow from hoppers and bins in agriculture and other industries. The technology is a microcontroller actuated portable device that can be remotely controlled. This device mixes with the bulk powder to increase flowability. This device is reusable and can save time, labor and money. The device itself is also much cheaper than existing technologies. This device could change how the flowability of powder is handled.

11. A simple, novel strategy to improve beef quality attributes in a consistent and natural manner: Researchers developed a simple process for vacuum-packaged fresh beef loin to achieve considerable improvements in tenderness without any adverse impacts on other quality traits.

12. Crops with increased resistance to fungal disease: Researchers identified a gene that could improve disease resistance in crops susceptible to disease. It confers broad-spectrum and complete resistance in sorghum and other plants, such as wheat, barley, rice, maize, oats, rye or millet.

Learn more at www.inventions.prf.org.