Unleashing the potential of integrated photonics in agrifood

Last May,?PhotonDelta and?OnePlanet Research Center have launched the ?Integrated Photonics for Agrifood? roadmap during the?Post Harvest Unlimited Conference (PHUC) at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. The roadmap sets out the future of sustainable food production and distribution using photonic microchip technology. It describes the role integrated photonics will play in the transformation of sustainable farming practices and food distribution ? maximizing yield and minimizing food waste throughout the food supply chain. Multiple organizations have contributed to the roadmap?s creation, including MantiSpectra, Eindhoven University of Technology and Delft University of Technology. Evolution of the agrifood industryAs demand for food steadily grows, the agrifood industry needs to evolve to prevent large sections of the global population from going hungry. And, as well as producing and preserving more food, the industry also has to address its environmental impact and cut carbon emissions. Precision agriculture is at the forefront of this transformation. It uses sensors to enable highly precise and optimized growing and distribution techniques. This can help us address global food challenges, including how we feed an estimated 10 billion people by 2050. However, it needs technology that?s small, cost-effective, and scalable for high-volume and low-cost production. That?s where Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) come in. Photonic microchips advancing agrifood solutionsThese integrated photonic microchips are fabricated like semiconductors, but use photons (light) instead of electrons. Photonic integration enables complex optical functions to be delivered on a single microchip, which is easy to scale and relatively low-cost to produce. Miniaturization and low power consumption make PICs well-suited for handheld devices and optical sensing applications, particularly real-time remote sensing of crop and food composition. Integrated photonic sensors enable farmers to give crops the optimum amount of water, light, and nutrients ? and food producers are able to accurately assess crop yield and quality. Sensors also allow early detection of crop conditions and diseases, avoiding waste. A limited number of platforms have multiple applications, opening up exciting opportunities within the agrifood industry. Not only that, these improvements also lead to significant cost-savings. Main applications of PICs in precision agricultureSensor fusion Data from different sensors can be combined for more accurate detection and quantitative analysis. Take a tomato for example. One device could potentially detect multiple variables such as sugar and moisture content, defects, firmness, and insects.Lidar3D mapping of landscapes and structures is one thing. Mapping orchards, soil conditions, and water flow is another. Lidar helps farmers precisely pinpoint where a problem lies, then make adjustments or intervene. It can also be used to map the precise location of farm machinery and livestock.?Near-infrared (NIR)Already firmly established on the market, NIR allows both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the composition of nutrients in products. NIR testing is used by farmers to extract precise data about the composition of a cow?s milk at the point of milking. Raman spectroscopyA more complex ? and currently more expensive ? technology that can carry out highly sensitive and specific analysis of chemicals. It could be used to determine growth conditions, and measure the chemical composition of plants. In livestock management, it could be used to monitor and control emissions, helping to both improve gas detection systems and monitor animal health. Companies leading the way in agrifood innovationPhotonDelta, a cross-border ecosystem of photonic chip technology organisations in Europe, boasts a wide range of partners with expertise in integrated photonics specifically tailored for the agrifood sector. These partners offer unique solutions that can revolutionize farming and food production. Ommatidia Lidar?and Scantinel Photonics, for example, develop lidar sensor technology to create a precise 3D map of an environment.?MantiSpectra provides a small but powerful sensor that can analyse the composition of soil, fruits, milk, and other food products using near-infrared light.?Neuruno has developed a system that can detect organic substances in the field. Lastly, both?Deloq and?Spectrik develop sensors to monitor harmful emissions from farms, such as methane and ammonia. By combining their expertise, these PhotonDelta partners are driving innovation in the agrifood sector, making farming more efficient and sustainable. For more information about integrated photonics applications in agrifood, PhotonDelta and OnePlanet offer to download the roadmap here. Pictures1 - Cover roadmap integrated photonic for AgriFood v1.0 (Source Photon Delta)2 - A photonic integrated circuit (Credits, Bart van Overbeeke)3 - MantiSpectra?s Chipsense technology, a multi-pixel array with sixteen detectors (Source MantiSpectra)4 - MantiSpectra?s SpectraPod, a portable spectral sensor solution for the agrifood industry (Source MantiSpectra)5 - Spectrum of interes for photonic applications (Source PhotonDelta)