Soil-plant digital twins and how to model them

Imagine being able to predict how our vegetation responds to environmental changes like droughts or heavy rains. It could help us take steps to prevent crop failure and loss of productivity – more pressing than ever, given the impact of climate change on food security and our ecosystems.

With soil-plant digital twins, researchers aim to achieve just this! Dr Yijian Zeng unveils how these virtual copies of real-world soil-plant systems can offer insights into how predicted weather will affect vegetation health in the real world.

Learn how they can inform farmers to make better decisions about irrigation, fertilization and crop management - ultimately improving yield and sustainability. In this video, Dr Yijian Zeng talks about what it takes to build the model, the unknowns he wishes to answer, and how the project has already made a practical impact in his neighbourhood.