In-Field Early Detection of Crop Health

Croptix is a precision agriculture platform for in-field early detection of crop disease and nutrition. We help farmers spot problems and detect nutritional deficiencies before they are visible. With our technology – faster and less expensive than legacy testing – farmers can make informed decisions that save money and improve yield.

Problem: Laboratory crop health tests
are slow, expensive, and inconsistent

Farmers lab testing leaves in a bag for crop testing

Farmers have better things to do than pluck leaves from their crops, stick them in a bag, mail them to a faraway lab -- and then wait weeks for the results.

Discover the root cause using real-time data. Croptix is a precision agriculture platform that gives farmers accurate nutrient information and early disease detection. Traditional lab methods are slow and costly, often leading to missed opportunities for optimal crop management. Croptix provides farmers with real-time granular plant nutrition information and early disease detection, enabling growers to make informed decisions when they count.

Disease Spotlight: Citrus HLB

Citrus growers know all too well the effects of the deadly citrus greening or Huanglongbing (HLB) disease. Caused by a bacterial pathogen (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus), it is carried tree to tree by the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP). The bacteria can reside in a tree for many months prior to causing visible symptoms, slowly killing the tree while it serves as a host for HLB to be spread to other trees. The only way to prevent the rapid spread of HLB is to detect it early, eradicate infected trees, and improve management techniques to contain ACP.

Originally found in Asia, HLB is spreading devastation around the globe. In the United States, HLB was first detected in Florida in the late 90’s, decimating production by over 60% in a decade. HLB is now hitting Texas and Southern California. Croptix has been partnering with forward-looking growers to mitigate the spread before it’s too late.

Dieased citrus tree that is infected with HLB

Technology Spotlight
"Molecular Ultrasound" for Plant Health

We Don’t Look At It…We Look In It.

Similar to how an ultrasound uses sound waves to image biological structures, our patented Croptix technology uses light waves to characterize the molecular and cellular structures inside plant leaves [read more...].

Croptix’s handheld, field-use miniature spectrophotometer captures light that has diffused in and re-emerged from the leaf. This “optical fingerprint” is analyzed in real-time by machine learning algorithms to accurately detect disease, nutrient deficiency, and water stress. Croptix assesses crop health long before you can see issues, giving you a head start to take preventative actions.

Want to learn more? Contact us and chat with a scientist.

Croptix Solutions

There is no cure for HLB.
The only way to prevent its spread is through proactive management. Croptix has the most practical solution that is both affordable at scale and sensitive enough to screen individual trees early, before the disease spreads throughout a grove. The Croptix solution provides a monitoring and remediation program that works together with the industry's plan to fight HLB.

Croptix Features

Croptix uses a revolutionary patented technology to look inside the leaves of citrus trees for signs of HLB and other diseases. You can screen large areas rapidly and affordably on a regular schedule. Croptix stores your geo-tagged data in a secure database and applies artificial intelligence to achieve a constantly improving recommendation specific to your grove and your growing conditions.

HLB Screening

Quick identification of suspect trees

Better Prediction

Cloud-based machine learning to recognize disease patterns

Mapping of Your Grove

GIS map layers for visualization of results

Multiple User Types

Access levels for admins, managers and staff

Results by Tree

Measurements GPS tagged to individual trees

Smartphone Management (soon)

Download follow-up locations and recommendations

Croptix Advantages

Affordable

An economical proactive technique

Early Warning

Detects disease before you can see it

Scalable

Deploy screening across an entire region

Best Practices

Consistent with industry HLB management guidelines

Turnkey

Technology, protocol and analysis, all in one

Easy to Manage

Cloud platform for simple, easy to access results viewing

The Croptix Difference
Our patented technique uses optical spectroscopy to look inside the leaves of suspect trees to detect disease before it’s visible to the human eye. Only Croptix’s unique technology allows you to affordably screen entire groves as part of a predictable evidence-based,and reliable grove management solution.

Croptix Services

Croptix Screening Service Details

Your team, or a Croptix service provider, runs our easy-to-use sensors in your fields, without costly help from technicians or scientists. We provide as much support as you need, and we monitor operations behind the scenes to ensure the best possible results with our system. Croptix™ analysis quickly turns around the results so you can take immediate action on suspect trees.

What’s included:

Detailed grove condition analysis
Alerts of suspect trees
Historical tracking to identify trends in tree health
Access to a secure online web portal to view your results

Field equipment provided:

Field-ready Croptix leaf sensors powered by our optical spectroscopy technology
On-person front carrier packs for operation in the field
On-site training and setup

Grower conducting leaf sensor on orange trees

Croptix devices to scan leafs for nutrition and diseases

Croptix WebAPP Details

Croptix™ analysis quickly turns around screening results so you can take immediate action on suspect trees. Integral to the service, Croptix creates an account specific to your operation in its web-enabled application (webAPP), which allows you to view results anywhere, anytime, from any device.

Current Features:

View screening results plotted on interactive maps of your fields
Schedule screening routes and activities
Track your team's efforts in the fields to make sure they are on track
View historical screening results to identify trends in tree health
Secure sign-in and account management from anywhere and on any device

Results On Demand

Croptix Nutrition Assessment

We are conducting in-field laboratory trials on groundbreaking nutrition analysis from in-situ crop leaves. Please Contact Us to learn more or participate in future trials.

Get Started with Croptix

Schedule a call and we will begin reviewing your operation for high-risk areas and vulnerabilities.

After identifying the vulnerable locations, we determine the number of tree tests required to protect each area.

We provide you with a quote that maps the planned route for screening on each block. A certified Croptix service provider will contact you within 1-2 weeks before the estimated service date.

Once the screening is completed by the service provider, you receive a detailed results report delivered to your email inbox within 1-2 days.

ESTIMATE

QUOTE & TEST

SCHEDULE

MEETING

REPORT

Our services are available!

About Croptix

From Lab to Field

Dr. Perry Edwards and Dr. Zhiwen Liu founded Croptix (originally Atoptix) to translate innovative sensor technology developed by researchers at Penn State into solutions that can have a meaningful and marketable impact outside of the laboratory. Their insight was taking spectrophotometer miniaturization from the benchtop to handheld devices uniquely suited for non-invasive tissue sampling. They successfully applied their combined expertise in optical engineering with their team of engineers and other scientists to develop the Croptix platform, a convenient, field-deployable solution for farmers to effectively measure nutrition in situ and screen for crop diseases. By combining miniature spectrophotometers with big data and AI, their invention is a new tool in the field to improve global food security. Croptix was awarded highly competitive NSF SBIR Phase I and Phase II grants to develop and commercialize the technology.

Meet the Croptix Team

We are a passionate and devoted group of individuals determined to completely transform the way growers and farmers manage their crops. Learn more about us below: