Soil Health - Interra® Scan x Syngenta
Leading technologies - Inside look at soil & field health with Interra® Scan, one of the world’s highest-resolution soil mapping services from Syngenta.
A healthy soil can help not only improve food production but also mitigate climate change, providing a solution for two of agriculture’s most pressing challenges. Interra® Scan is Syngenta’s first soil health service which brings new technology to deliver high-resolution soil nutrient, texture, and carbon maps for growers to accurately determine soil conditioning and nutrient support.
naturally emitted isotopes measured: Caesium137, Uranium238, Potassium40, Thorium232
up to
high-definition soil property layers
over
data reference points per hectare for each measured element
Interra® Scan allows growers to understand the texture, nutrient and carbon content of their soils in order to optimize nutrition and carbon capture.
Interra® Scan produces very high-resolution maps – up to 27 layers of information – to growers’ computers via the Interra® Scan platform. It uses passive, gamma-ray detection technology, providing high-definition mapping of all common nutrient properties, pH, soil texture, organic matter, carbon, and cation exchange capacity as well as elevation and plant available water. The significance of this methodology is that it is not affected by soil moisture, compaction, crop cover or cultivation state – there are very few limitations to when Interra® Scan can be used – offering a much wider operating window for soil scans compared to other soil scanning systems. Interra® Scan provides accurate baseline measurements of both organic and active carbon in the soil – we believe this can enable growers to adjust their farming systems leading to long-term soil health benefits. Healthy soils can not only improve food production but also mitigate climate change. They have a critical role to play as a natural carbon sink. Investment in precision innovations like Interra® Scan means growers will be able to avoid treating the entire field in the same way by making informed decisions about exactly what to apply where and how much.
Interra® Scan is advancing soil health
Supporting regenerative farming practices through better informed decisions for crop management and soil stewardship
Highly accurate picture of soil health with up to 27 high-definition soil property layers
Optimization of fertilizer, lime, organic matter and seed
Frequently asked questions
How can Interra® Scan improve soil health?
Farming is mostly a practice of averages – average yield, average fertility rate, average spray rates, and so on. Over-fertilizing is inefficient and potentially harmful to the environment. Interra® Scan enables growers and agronomists to make the most of precision technology. It provides them with detailed information on soil texture, pH, macro and micronutrients and carbon. With this deep understanding of soil characteristics, the grower knows exactly what to apply where and how much, to optimize the nutritional and organic matter health of their soil. Interra® Scan is like an all-round medical check-up for humans, but for soil.
How is Interra® Scan soil analysis conducted?
A Syngenta operator scans the grower’s fields using gamma-ray detection technology to scan and map the soil. Every 2 to 3 hectares, the operator takes a physical soil sample which is sent to a lab for analysis. This enables accurate calibration of the scanner used across each field and soil type. After soil analysis, the lab results and the data from the scan are sent to SoilOptix® where the results are then made available to the grower on our Interra® Scan platform, which they access directly. This gives them a unique soil properties map for each field containing soil datapoints. With this information, the grower knows exactly what to apply where and how much, to optimize the nutritional and organic matter health of their soil.
How often does the soil need to be scanned to secure optimal results?
Every 3 to 5 years. The soil nutrient levels tend to remain constant from one year to another, thus the soil does not need to be scanned every year.
How is Interra® Scan different from other similar services?
Other services either use satellite-based approaches and algorithms to quantify carbon and other soil nutrient variations or intensive grid sampling and smoothing techniques. Each of these techniques still require significant soil laboratory analysis and they do not necessarily reach the granularity that can be achieved through the Interra® Scan method.
Were is Interra® Scan available?
We are currently developing a roll-out plan for continental and Easter Europe. The exact launch details will be communicated in due course.