Plant Hacks

To address the issue of tree health management and climate volatility at root level by adopting a way thats both environmentally and economically sustainable.A hardware kit to infuse fertilizers and other solutions with zero exposure to environment and multiple use plugin, sealant system.A synthetic, standalone fluidic actuation kit incision to tree trunk to mimic xylem hydraulics by compensating the transpirational,osmotic,root pressures with fluidic actuation & loading system. Targeting Palms and trees of Horticulture,Commercial [timber,Rubber], lanscaping & urban trees for integrated nutrient,pest,growth & metabolism management for preventive & curative diagnosis of tree health,abiotic stress, growth regulation, hands on yields & aesthetics of crop & resource management, zeroing on loss due to volatility & leaching effects, control of metabolisms, as value proposition for farmers also climatic impact factor for reducing air toxicity, soil pH & organisms threat.Targeting test specie of Coconut & work with other coniferous,deciduous trees for customized specie specific diagnosis.

It's not only what we apply to tree but how we deliver to it and how much of applied solutions are actually absorbed or intaken by the tree.In cost division of tree treatment 95% share is on what to apply for tree and just only about 5% is on how to supply it.If we effectuate intake proportion, residual wastage is reduced significantly and the results also yield well instead of dwelling on just what quantities of solutions.The volatility & leeching effects which are cause for both fertilizer wastage and environmental toxification are completely resolved with this infusion method.The land cultivated for decades have already lost the natural fixated minerals & currently relied on fertilizers,North American farmers are expected to use an additional 300,000 tonnes of NPK to meet previous yields and fertilizer use surpassed 200 MT in 2018 and are expected to grow by 3.7 percent,2.7 percent & 4.2 percent per annum.Moreover, most of the nations are limiting use of chemical resources in farming especially EU, American nations & even in India many fertilizer, pesticides were banned due to their GHE contributions.So to promote resource & chemical accountability, more hands on yield and metabolisms for tree diagnosis & Nutrient management.

Hacking and mimicking the hydraulics of xylem part of vascular system with MEMS to infuse the solutions directly into the tree and implementing it as plugin to tree.

A control system to supply solutions in dosages and flow rates wrt specie,age,viscosity of solution,susceptibility,etc. Correlating hydrodynamics of vascular system with microfluidic actuation and diffuser nozzle plug to synchronize with sap flow & not disrupting the tree health.Design parameters of mecahnical, physiological and other morphological boundary conditions to achieve both radial & axial loading to cover entire canopy of tree is key factor for modeling of kit.Tree transport system,xylem hydraulic mechanisms which is a combination of cohesion,Adhesion properties of water, Transpiraion pull,Capillary forces, root pressures and osmotic potentials to maintain water column & mineral distribution across entire canopy of tree.These effects are quantified & boundary conditions for each specie of pressure and mechanical properties of tissues are deduced.The actuation system simulated with boundary conditions & also allowing to pump wide range of fluids since viscosity of these fluids restricts pressure & flow rates.Using MEMS fludic actuation system with MATLAB & ANSYS simulations are done.

Horticulture and commercial tree farmers as targeted market segments and landscaping market as secondary to address all the tree health,growth and Nutrient management issues with one kit.treat abiotic stress.The palms resistance to these pests and increase the immunity is best prevention.Which can be obtained by infusing various Micro macro nutrient supplies ex: Phosphorus tend to increase immunity of palm,growth hormone which can improve yield as well,Nutri boosters to recover the treated palm.Often farmers are loosing well grown trees to pests /defeciencies which have medical solutions yet cannot be distributed for entire tree,Eg:Incase of RedPalmWevil though there are insecticides to kill beast,methods are unavailable to deliver effeciently,making farmer lose entire farm.To help farmers grow drought or pest resistant, an effecient integrated Nutrient & pest management regime is drawn for each specie wrt age,directly apply them with provision for dosages.

The morphology trees are highly dependent on resources which vary with geography,currently managed with external fertilizer solutions to meet health charts of tree.A climate mitigation technique also providing revenue for farmer.To make farming community resilient by addressing resource deficiencies by making tree/farm resilient.Making farms more resilient by creating a systemic way to apply fertilizers for sustainable production decisions also able to monetize by saving on investment costs and mproved yields.Farmers are major opportunity for climate solution, making investments that make your farm more resilient, also providing revenue for farmer.

Over an year with researching and other literature survey, working in full time for conducting experiments on field and designing simulated models.Conducting Primary market research with local farmers,fertilizer dealers,Biosystem companies and academias.Collaborated and contracted scientific advisors who have on field tree diagnosis expertise to understand real time parameters to model ease of use kit.Test Specie as coconut we experimented with manual mechanical system to establish proof of concept.Simulated the nozzle valve, actuators[Piezo,electrostatic], using COMSOL and MATLAB SIMULINK to obtain flowrate to pressure ratio.

sample experiment to get distribution with external pressurised system

The implants to plants is main innovation behind the project & is envisioned for tree diagnostics,bridging Micro/Nano era to plant bio engineering.The current techniques of soil mixing,foliar sprays,injections are limited by genetic abilities of tree to absorb from roots via symplast and apoplast paths and soil leaching,frequency of application and tree tolerance for injections and volatile nature of compounds.These traditional methods cannot be dosaged or repetitive and doesn't dissolve in the system for quick results.Almost noninvasive compared to injection methods and tree health or transport system is not disrupted. Vascular system is undisturbed, maintaining nutrient movement.Cortex,endodermis and symplastic path which acts as gate keepers for mineral intake which restricts the fertilizers and biocides to enter xylem can be bypassed. This can open up wide range of uses for delaying the plant aging, wide range of pest control, fertilizer supply,etc .For commercial trees with this solution wood texture can be improved and growth can be regulated growth hormones of Gibberlic acid elongation,Absisic acid tree protection hormones can be infused safely,

,physiological shock can be triggered.For horticulture,Iron Chlorosis to single nutrient defeciency and growth to season stage based mineral ,nutrient requirements can be addressed.Eg:For flowering stage of mango crom zinc foliar sprays are used vastly to increase them, which can be supplied via this kit in less quantities than spray at pre flowering stage more effeciently.

Presently in seed stage with out any customers.

Targeting horticulture tree market and commercial tree markets for specific species we aim to serve 2 Million Hectares of farm land impacting around 200 M trees in three years of our first product launch.

We aim to serve global horticulture tree market making every tree and farmer resilient.

Reduction in investment costs per crop season: By reducing the tree care costs farmers reducing use of fertilizers and their wastage due to volatile effects te economical benifitis calculated.

Affordabilty: Cost of kit compared to benefits. How one time incurring cost can be recooped within few seasons.

Agronimic impacts: The per crop investment costs and yields benifited by adoptig this method is calculated togive a precised economic value.

Reduction in use of fertilizer per tree hence per farm

Climatic impact factor and sustainability score: GHE score, reduction in air soil and water contaminations and biome, life of microbial and fauna are estimated prior to and few years after adopting this method.Which also provides carbon credit for farmers.

Tree health: Growing trees which are draught,stress resistant and good tolerance and susceptibility to pests.This tree management canimprove tthe farming life span of tree with btter production.

Farmers ease of use: The kit is to be designed which is easy to use in real time, no specif expertise should be requiredto use.

I'm working full time on the main technical work of designing,simulation of the model .Scientific advisors, commerical mentors and farmer community collaborating who provide the necessary physiology and field specific details to obtain design and boundary conditions.

Presently, solopreneur  trying to build prototype with experience of Embedded system design. Collaborating with plant science experts and farmers to understand the tree requirements.

https://go.xprize.org/future-of-forests/
Won this under Decoupling land from Agriculture as GreenWarrior
Presented paper and NASA, ISSR&D 2020 conference

Experimented on coconut palm with mechanical[hydraulic actuator] under controlled high pressure setup to obtaine boundary conditions for design and for POC.With test trunks of 2 feet long and drill at 0.5 feet using NPK solution and safranin dye to trace the solution flow after crossection.Obtained radial and axial distribution of dye without tree hydraulic parameters of transpiration or root pressures but with just our actuation setup. Simulated the nozzle valve, actuators[Piezo,electrostatic], using COMSOL and MATLAB SIMULINK to obtain flowrate to pressure ratio.

With help of scientific advisors estinated boundary conditions and basic tree hydrulic replication system was simulated.

In process of acquiring grants to get required resources and partnering with VC for commercialization.

Due to diversity and interdisciplinary model of this method and target customers as farmers I have opted to apply for solve basd on past challenges and impact it offered to teams.Not just for funding but for mentoring and networking opportunities solve offers in inspiring.

The development of the kit need lot of engineering and physiological data 

MIT MEMS DEPARTMENT, Tree on Chip was designed in this lab which could help modeling the kit.

This method offers not only economical benifits but also promotes ecological sustainability.Farmers are major opportunity for climate solution, with insightful and accountable use of fertilizers the consumption can be significantly reduced and the effects of NP's on biome is reduced.