A unique artificial intelligence technology that allows growers to learn about diseases, pests, nutrient deficiencies reported by plants has received € 1.8 million in funding from ePlant and Astanor Ventures, hortidaily.com reports.

PhytlSigns is the first commercial crop health diagnostic system based on plant electrophysiology - a collection of internal electrical, mechanical and chemical signaling networks that plants use to coordinate growth, reproduction and defense.

The technology leads to increased yields, improved plant protection efficiency and encourages environmentally friendly protection decisions: more food, fewer chemicals.

Produced by the Swiss biosignals specialist Vivent, it has previously been successfully applied in greenhouses and has now proven to be effective in field crops, which means the Smart System is being used for a much wider range of crop growers across Europe and North America.

Vivent has worked with greenhouse growers over the past full season, using phyto-signals to monitor their crops in real time. The information provided by technology helps them make climate control decisions for indoor applications as well as irrigation, crop protection and fertilization.

The sensors are currently used on tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and eggplants. Field trials on tomatoes, apples and grapes have also proven the technology to be effective in an increasingly wide range of high-value fruit and nut crops.

“Through powerful machine learning, we can support plant growth by targeting plants directly, learning what they need to produce safer, better quality agricultural products,” said Carroll Plummer, founder and CEO of Vivent.