Open University soil tester addresses poor crop yields

The £680,000 project is hoping to use an acoustic-seismic tool for testing the resistance of soil for more effective modelling of wheat growth during water shortages.

Prof Keith Attenborough, who is leading the research, said: ‘Typically what happens when there is a drought is the soil becomes very strong and it’s much harder for plant roots to pass through it. So apart from the fact the crops are not getting water, they also can’t move in the soil… we want to develop a more effective way of monitoring this.’

Attenborough claims that existing methods for monitoring soil resistance are invasive and labour intensive. He proposes using a combination of sound measurements with laser-doppler readings to determine the speed at which acoustic waves travel inside the soil.

‘Reflection of sound in soil depends on forces between particles that can give us information on water content, soil structure and strength,’ he said. ‘Measuring these particle vibrations will help us understand how soil behaves in different environments.’