Digit Soil

Rapid measurement of soil health

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a quarter of global agricultural land is already severely degraded, making long-term maintenance of soil health a critical issue. Until now, there has been no simple, quick and reliable way to assess soil health and biology. Digit Soil, developed by Sonia Meller and Hélène Iven, is an easy-to-use, portable sensor that measures the activity of soil enzymes as an indicator of soil health. For their innovation, they miniaturised existing technology, and enhanced it with a new user interface. The handy device replaces bulky, expensive laboratory equipment and can be deployed on-site by farmers, gardeners and researchers. In addition, measurements can be repeated more often, and the workload is far less, as there is no need for sampling, storage and transport.

More on Digit Soil on their Website or at the Student Project House.