Israel is build a satellite that will be launched into space by France in 2008 as a tool for 'precision farming' - providing real-time reporting on crop conditions. It will advise producers in both countries when to take action such as irrigating, fertilising, or spraying fruit and vegetables.

The new satellite, called Venus, is being built following an agreement between Israel's Ministry of Agriculture, Israel's Space Agency and France's National Center for Space Research. It will report every two days and have the ability to focus on areas as small as five square metres.

Dr Victor Alchanatis and Dr Yafit Cohen, who lead the Venus satellite project from the sensing information and mechanisation engineering department at The Volcani Center in Israel, explained that precision farming, based on applying sophisticated sensor systems, is a novel concept in agricultural cultivation, and examines sub-plots, which compares with existing methods that treat entire crops uniformly with agro-technical means. "Venus will tell the farmers in real-time if a given crop needs to be irrigated, or fertilised, or sprayed; it will monitor an entire plantation or a single tree and broadcast its findings to the farmers, directly to their computers through a designated satellite connection, using 12 channels of parameters regarding the crops and environmental factors," they said.

Venus is a unique development combining high resolution soil and crop photography; it is equipped with a large number of spectral channels selected especially to focus on plants' conditions and environmental factors, and the high frequency of monitoring designated areas. The satellite will also produce real-time data regarding yields, soil condition, the physiological conditions of the plants, as well as identifying plants and animals.

Alchanatis and Cohen said Venus will enhance agricultural thinking on optimal harvest times, and improve field and orchard management procedures.

Israel's Minister of Agriculture Yisrael Katz said that "modern agriculture is based on advanced technologies and Israel is one of the leading countries in the world in applying state-of-the-art technologies in its agricultural infrastructure. The use of the new satellite will increase our farmers' efficiency by using precise and measured resources, making agricultural production more efficient and more profitable."

Topics