Syngenta Interra Scan soil mapping service allows growers to better understand soil health

Syngenta has unveiled its high-resolution soil mapping service, Interra Scan, at the agricultural innovation event Fields of Innovation 2022. The Interra Scan service, which offers precision soil analysis to help growers and agronomists optimise crop nutrition and soil health, will be initially available to continental and Eastern European growers.

Soil mapping for up to 27 layers of information

Interra Scan offers high-resolution soil mapping for up to 27 layers of information, providing growers with precise information on soil health. “Interra Scan produces high-resolution maps accessible by growers’ computers via the Interra Scan platform,” said Mark Hall, Head of Sustainable and Responsible Business EAME.

“Its detection technology provides mapping of all common nutrient properties including, pH, soil texture, organic matter, carbon, and cation exchange capacity, as well as elevation and plant water availability – all together, it offers over 800 data reference points per hectare. It is the equivalent of a complete medical check-up for humans, but for soil.”

_{Text continues below video}

Much-wider operating window for soil scans

According to Syngenta, the map allows growers to understand the texture, nutrient and carbon content of their soils in order to optimize nutrition and carbon capture. The methodology used by Interra Scan also enables a much-wider operating window for soil scans compared to other soil scanning systems, Syngenta claims. According to the company it is not affected by soil moisture, compaction, crop cover or cultivation state, meaning there are very few limitations to when it can be used.

By providing an accurate baseline measurement of both organic and active carbon in the soil, Interra Scan 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,” Alexandra Brand, Regional Director of Crop Protection, EAME, said.

In 2019, Future Farming talked to Alexandra Brand about how Syngenta tunes its seeds to climate change. Read the article here.