The start-up has developed a measuring device and an application that farmers can use to generate highly precise and specific fertilization recommendations for their crops<\/p>\n
In agricultural practice, the amount of fertilizer applied to crops is usually based on standardized calculations or empirical values. This can lead to unspecific, inefficient fertilization. This, in turn, leads to environmental pollution and increased costs for agricultural businesses. However, specifically determining the amount of fertilizer required based on the nutritional status of the plants is expensive and time-consuming for farms. NutriSen wants to change that. \u201cWhat we wanted to achieve is a laboratory in the field, a democratization of data-supported agriculture,\u201d explains D\u00e9bora Moretti from the LiveSen-MAP research project team. In the project, she and other researchers, funded by the EIC Transition, were able to investigate a technology for precise fertilization.<\/p>\n
Farmers collect plant stalks from their fields and crush them. The escaping substrate is applied to biosensor strips and the measuring device developed by the team determines the phosphate and nitrate values of the plants from the strip. The NutriSen application then creates a high-resolution map of the field in just a few minutes using satellite data from the European Copernicus earth observation programme with the values and corresponding fertilizer recommendations for each section of the field. According to the team, this can reduce the amount of fertilizer used by up to 20 percent.<\/p>\n
The team led by Tobias V\u00f6pel and Alaa Oughli already received funding from the EXIST research transfer program in 2021. This allowed the group to grow further, and D\u00e9bora Moretti joined them in 2022. Together with Nicolas Plumer\u00e9, Professor of Electrobiotechnology at TUM, they founded NutriSen in 2023 to test the technology developed in the LiveSen-MAP project and put it into practice.<\/p>\n
To found their start-up, they took part in the XPLORE program of UnternehmerTUM, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The program aims to prepare teams for founding a company and to establish a network. The support provided by the TUM Venture Lab Sustainability also helped the team, reports Tobias V\u00f6pel: \u201cThe Venture Lab also helped us to build up our network. The feedback we received when applying for funding from the European Innovation Council was also particularly valuable – and we were successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The technology is now in the second test phase with agricultural businesses. \u201cThe feedback from the first phase has already enabled us to improve the sensors and the application. In the second phase, almost 100 farms are now testing the sensors on site in the field,\u201d explains D\u00e9bora Moretti. Based on the results of the field trials, the nitrate measurement product is to be launched on the market next year.<\/p>\n
Image: The team behind NutriSen: Alaa Oughli, Tobias V\u00f6pel, D\u00e9bora Moretti and Prof. Nicolas Plumer\u00e9. (Otto Zellmer\/TUM)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The start-up has developed a measuring device and an application that farmers can use to generate highly precise and specific fertilization recommendations for their crops From plant data to fertilizer recommendations in just a few minutes In agricultural practice, the amount of fertilizer applied to crops is usually based on standardized calculations or empirical values.\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_scj_primary_category_id":76,"_scj_featured":false,"_scj_featured_from":"","_scj_featured_until":"","_scj_featured_order":0,"_scj_visibility_class":"current","_scj_layout_family":"standard","_scj_article_style":"","_scj_display_overrides":[],"_scj_intro_image_id":19782,"_scj_intro_alt":"NutriSen founding team with their sensor innovation \u2013 Alaa Oughli, Tobias V\u00f6pel, D\u00e9bora Moretti, and Nicolas Plumer\u00e9.","_scj_intro_caption":"","_scj_intro_class":"","_scj_intro_float":"","_scj_full_image_id":19782,"_scj_full_alt":"NutriSen founding team with their sensor innovation \u2013 Alaa Oughli, Tobias V\u00f6pel, D\u00e9bora Moretti, and Nicolas Plumer\u00e9.","_scj_full_caption":"","_scj_full_class":"","_scj_full_float":"","_scj_media_type":"","_scj_media_provider":"","_scj_media_external_id":"","_scj_media_url":"","_scj_media_poster_id":0,"_scj_media_width":0,"_scj_media_height":0,"_scj_media_aspect_ratio":"","_scj_media_description":"","_scj_gallery_items":[],"_scj_related_post_ids":[],"_scj_additional_authors":[],"scj_layout_family":"standard","scj_media_provider":"","scj_media_url":"","scj_full_caption":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[2609,2610,2606,2605,2607,2608],"class_list":["post-19783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agri-tech","tag-biosensors","tag-copernicus-data","tag-fertilization-technology","tag-precision-agriculture","tag-smart-farming","tag-start-up-innovation"],"yoast_head":"\n