1.4 billion hectares of land – 28 per cent of the world’s agricultural area – is used annually to produce food that is subsequently lost or wasted.  Food wastage costs food producers some $750 billion annually.  Across agriculture, there is a lack of timely alerts for infection and too little data.

Our technology has the ability to inform farmers when an infectious disease occurs in a flock of chickens, when a stored crop of vegetables is starting to rot, when grain is contaminated, or when salad crops become diseased. Enabling faster interventions, reducing wastage and increasing yields

All organic bodies, animal or vegetable, emit odours or Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Any change to the chemistry caused by disease or impurities will change the balance of VOCs emitted and this will be detected by our sensitive semiconducting polymer sensors. Powerful software then takes this data & analyses the odour “digital fingerprint”.  Comparison with stored fingerprints enables diseases and other problems to be quickly detected.

We use different methods of sampling depending on the requirements for each type of animal housing.  For cows, we have been using faecal sampling, swabbed direct from the cow – this ensures accurate identification of which cow needs treatment.  Samples can be tested using a handheld device on site for immediate results, or in another location using our benchtop unit.  For routine testing, samples can be frozen and tested later. 

Our speed of detection is significantly faster than other solutions currently available – giving farmers the opportunity to intervene, protecting yields and maintaining the health of the cattle or birds.

A lot of our work has been focused on broiler chickens, which are typically housed in barns of up to 50,000 birds and have a lifecycle of six weeks. We have identified the VOC digital fingerprints of a wide range of diseases from which they suffer.

Taking just Necrotic Enteritis, the impact of infection on a flock is dramatic. Without swift intervention, all of the chickens could be lost.  We can provide early detection to allow the farmer to treat the flock and return the birds to health.

Our trials have shown we can detect disease and alert the farmer, typically within 36 hours of the outbreak starting.  Significantly faster than any other testing method – and non-invasive, so less stressful to the birds. 

In this way, we can enable faster interventions, to keep birds healthier, so they can achieve their target weight and optimise profitability.

·Rugged steel case & IP rated

·Automatic sampling and analysis in
one integrated device 

·24/7 monitoring with remote
wireless contact to the farmer

·Battery or mains power

·With a 24 sensor array it can
monitor for several different diseases

·Quick, efficient and inexpensive.

All data downloadable to external computer