A Lethbridge researcher is leading the effort to accelerate the digital transformation of the Canadian agriculture sector.
In modern farming, innovation is key to addressing both biotic and abiotic stresses. Exciting research being done out of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Remote Sensing and Phenomics Lab (RSP Lab) at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre is harnessing data-driven tools to transform farming practices, including helping accelerate the development of new crop varieties.
Keshav Singh, who leads the RSP Lab group, has dedicated several years to developing cutting-edge technologies that empower farmers. Over the past three years, Singh’s lab has worked to develop digital tools that help producers make better decisions using advanced technology.
One of his projects, supported by Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), focuses on spectral imaging technology to estimate nitrogen (N) fertilizer-use-efficiency to optimize grain yield and quality in wheat and canola. This project uses high-resolution sensors to model N-uptake from plants and estimate N losses with nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions.
The team is also using a combination of unmanned ground and aerial vehicles (UAVs and UGVs) and satellites to map fields and gather detailed information about crops, helping breeders and farmers get a clearer picture of what’s happening in their fields.
Singh’s team is part of a national collaboration with six other AAFC research centres, including five Prairie farms, to improve plant phenotyping. Supported by funding from the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) and Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat), the project is also testing tools like the University of Saskatchewan Field Phenotyping System (UFPS Cart), to enable more effective crop imaging. These technologies use artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools and models to help breeders and farmers identify the best-performing crops faster and make smarter decisions about how to grow them.
“In Western Canada and North America in general, farms are vast, and conventional scouting methods — walking fields and inspecting specific areas — really are labour-intensive and limited in scope. Farmers need new and better tools to get the job done, and that’s what we’re helping deliver,” Singh says.
Eye on Traits
Singh’s team is taking part in a three-year pilot project leveraging UGVs, Canadian-designed robots to streamline the identification of desirable traits in crop breeding plot trials, accelerating the development of new crop varieties.
Central to this initiative is the UFPS Cart technology, which are automated, ground-based units equipped with advanced sensors and cameras designed to capture detailed crop data as they traverse fields. It enables precise, cost-effective identification of phenotypic traits — observable characteristics critical to crop improvement.
AAFC, with funding support from WGRF, acquired six UFPS Carts from the University of Saskatchewan, where the technology was originally developed around 2018. These units are now deployed at AAFC research farms across the Prairies and in Ottawa, contributing to a collaborative project aimed at refining best practices for this transformative technology.
The carts are currently helping gather data in diverse environments to predict valuable quantities like plant size and growth patterns in wheat varieties, making it easier to evaluate which varieties perform best.
“We’re working on creating simple, standardized methods for storing and analyzing the information, so it’s easier to use for crop research and improvement decisions that farmers need to make,” Singh says.
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