March 25, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Soil analytics company CropX has forged a strategic partnership with NASA Harvest – NASA’s Food Security and Agriculture Program housed within the NASA Applied Sciences Program – to collaborate on global agricultural monitoring, and to provide NASA with unprecedented insights into soil health.

First introduced through their involvement in Farm2050, an ecosystem of leaders in the agrifood industry led by Finistere Ventures and Innovation Endeavors, this partnership between CropX and NASA Harvest bridges the public, private, and academic sectors and reflects the determination of NASA Harvest to create partnerships that unlock innovation in agriculture. 

Founded in 2015 and with offices in both Tel Aviv and San Francisco, CropX integrates the full range of farm data insight channels – satellite, weather, crop modeling, topographical data, scalable soil sensing technology, and cloud-based agricultural analytics to revolutionize farming through combining above-ground data with real-time soil data.

“We were impressed by the accuracy and reliability with which the CropX soil monitoring platform was able to both pinpoint various soil health and environmental challenges, as well as determine opportunities for water, energy and nutrient conservation,” said Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef, program director of NASA Harvest. “CropX offers the advanced tools and global farm footprint needed to understand and improve soil health and water quality tied to farming ecosystems around the world. Paired with satellite data, this provides the opportunity to scale these insights in support of farmer productivity and more effective use of available resources.”

Together, CropX and NASA Harvest will provide farmers and industry experts with the data and information needed to improve the sustainability benchmarks of farming systems through the conservation of resources and the improvement of crop yields. 

“Soil health and nutrient management is at the very root of food security and sustainable agriculture concerns – an accurate understanding of what is actually happening underneath the ground is essential,” said Nadav Liebermann, CTO, CropX.

NASA has deployed CropX solutions across a group of alfalfa farms in Arizona, held by IAF Investments Group, to pilot a program that will test and fine-tune the algorithms that will form the foundation of nationwide, and eventually global, agricultural insights. 

“We are delighted to collaborate with CropX and NASA Harvest on this most important deployment,” said Jon-Michael Nahon, senior managing partner, IAF. “Optimal and sustainable use of farm inputs is crucial to meeting the world’s food challenge.”

Through integration of NASA’s satellite data and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) information, based on multiple crop growing cycles over a 12-month period, the trial will rapidly establish the parameters for water usage estimates, yield prediction, soil quality, and land usage assessments.

Driven by a renewed focus on soil moisture metrics founded on NASA’s NISAR mission, the team is aiming to build upon this pilot study over the coming years by using the latest cutting-edge technology to analyze and support more cost-effective and environmentally sound and friendly farming methods. 

“We are in a constant race to produce and supply enough food in order to feed a rapidly growing global population, with finite land and natural resources,” said Dr. Becker-Reshef. “NASA Harvest is dedicated to collaborating with top innovators to make the best possible use of our agricultural land; CropX unites our space-led vision with on-farm intelligence and results.”

“Satellite imagery has long been an integral part of CropX algorithms, and our partnership with NASA Harvest will deliver valuable agronomic insights by connecting critical data at different depths underground and from an expansive network of satellites in space,” added CropX CTO Nadav Liebermann. “We are looking forward to working with the NASA Harvest team to improve farming decision-making worldwide – in both developed and undeveloped regions.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.