Inventions that alert growers to plants' needs, make plants more nutritious and monitor bee health were named to TIME's Best Inventions of 2024 list.
InnerPlant, which created the data platform CropVoice, modified soy, corn and cotton genetics to turn plants' natural reaction when they need nutrients or are stressed by insects or pathogens "into a protein that emits a fluorescent optical signal," TIME writes.
The protein is "detectable by sensors on satellites, drones, or tractors, so farmers can take action early, even before damage is visible in a plant’s growth," TIME writes. "In late 2023, InnerPlant teamed with manufacturer John Deere and fungicide maker Syngenta to pilot test early sensing of fungal disease on soybeans, aiming to reduce overuse of chemical pesticides and enhance yields."
"CropVoice 'listens' to plants engineered to signal stress so fungal disease is stopped early," Innerplant says. "CropVoice is InnerPlant’s groundbreaking insights platform that combines data from a network of sentinel plots featuring InnerSoy — a first-of-its-kind soybean engineered to signal when it’s stressed. Data is analyzed using advanced predictive models to provide the earliest, most definitive detection of fungal infection and deliver the highest ROI crop protection strategies. Environmental and pathogenic data are important detection signals but fail to provide proof that plants are actually infected. With millions of sensors deployed, InnerPlant is the ONLY company that completes the 'disease triangle' by using the earliest physiological responses directly from plants to confirm infection — as it’s happening."
Brightseed from Forager "uses AI to help map the plant genome, which contains clues to the bioactives" — which are "natural compounds that could benefit gut bacteria and human health," TIME writes.
"The system, in turn, has assembled the world’s largest library of natural small molecule compounds — over seven million and counting — and linked them to potential health benefits. This map can be used by food companies to understand their bioactives, as with Brightseed’s partnership with Blue Diamond, attempting to optimize its almonds," TIME writes.
BeeHero’s Pollination Insight Platform aims to help address the bee mortality rate, caused in part by climate change, since 75% of crops depend on pollination, according to TIME.
"BeeHero’s Pollination Insight Platform was developed to help commercial growers pollinate efficiently and solve problems threatening these vital insects," TIME writes. "The platform works with a small device, which features nine sensors and can be placed in fields to monitor bee activity, track visits to flowers, and measure environmental conditions."
