Best in the Field
Cropwatch helps farmers to increase yield, reduce costs and feed more people
The best innovations arrive at just the right time, when we have both the means and the imagination to see what they make possible. This is the genius of Ashraf Elshorbagy’s project, Cropwatch. It combines existing technology with a proprietary algorithm developed by Dr. Ahmed Shaker AbdElrahman of Toronto Metropolitan University's Civil Engineering department to deliver a service much needed in the field. Literally.
The United Nations estimates that annually, between 20% to 40% of global crop production is lost to pests and disease. The ability to monitor crop health is of paramount importance to address threats and ensure the best possible yield. But field scouting is laborious and costly work.
“The Stage 1 Award is a huge boost to this project,” says Elshorbagy. “We are now using the reviewers’ feedback to help move us forward. Throughout this whole process, I have learned a lot about how different entrepreneurial thinking is from purely academic work. It’s been a crucial education.”
“It’s easy to miss problematic areas and suffer yield loss as a result,” says Elshorbagy. “One tool farmers can use as an ‘eye in the sky’ is satellite imagery remote sensing. But the common type used – passive sensing – cannot see through cloud cover. What’s needed is the addition of active sensing, which is just becoming available for public use in Canada.”
What makes Cropwatch unique is that it offers an innovation available nowhere else. Combining two existing remote sensing technologies within an original algorithm, it provides all-weather seeing capabilities. This feature can then be accessed by farmers through a user-friendly web service and app that will provide unprecedented information about crop health, thus saving operational costs and achieving a higher yield. In the end, more mouths can be fed at lower prices.
A doctoral student in Civil Engineering, Elshorbagy worked closely with his thesis supervisor to bring Cropwatch to life. “Ashraf is developing my intellectual property into a commercial endeavour,” says AbdElrahman. “Our partnership combines my research and his entrepreneurial drive. It’s been very generative.”
So generative that Esch has validated the social benefit and commercial viability of the idea.