What is the TomatoGuard Project?
With funding from DEFRA and Innovate UK, the ‘TomatoGuard: Advanced AI-Driven Pest and Stress Detection for Sustainable Tomato Cultivation’ project aims to revolutionise protected crop production by making it more sustainable and efficient.
This collaborative effort brings together expertise from the UK Agri-Tech Centre, Altered Carbon (AC), Fargro Limited and prominent commercial tomato producer APS Produce. The project focuses on developing machine learning capabilities to detect specific tomato volatiles indicative of stress.
At the heart of this project lies AC’s AI-Assisted Digital Nose sensor system, a cutting-edge tool designed to emulate human senses and identify potential horticultural challenges in plants and soil. Using a graphene-based sensor array, the Digital Nose detects specific gases and vapours, acting as an early warning system for environmental changes that signal the onset of crop stress.
This system is powered by AC’s K9sense chip, a new type of chemical sensor that operates within an AI framework. It identifies unique patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by stressed plants, enabling interventions before visible symptoms occur.
Project partners
