Agrocares Scanner: Soil, Feed and Leaves Nutrient Scanner

Scan Nutrients. Get Answers. Act Fast.

For national extension systems and public agriculture programs, the AgroCares Nutrient Scanner provides a fast and portable solution for testing soil, crop, and feed samples in the field. The device pairs with a smartphone via Bluetooth and operates through AgroCares’ suite of mobile apps. Using near-infrared (NIR) sensing, it reads the sample’s nutrient profile and sends the data to a global cloud database. In minutes, it returns a detailed report with nutrient values and actionable recommendations to guide fertilizer application, crop management, or livestock feeding. This tool helps government teams deliver timely, evidence-based advice at scale, even in areas without access to laboratory infrastructure.

This technology is pre-validated.

9•9

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 9/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The scanner has direct benefits for adult farmers and communities. For smallholder farmers, on-site soil testing leads to better crop management, higher yields, and improved food security, creating a safer and more resilient livelihood. In remote areas with limited access to resources, this technology helps optimize fertilizer use and farming practices, leading to more stable harvests and income.

The poor: Positive high

Smallholder farmers with limited financial resources stand to gain significantly from this technology. Traditionally, soil and feed testing has been expensive or logistically unreachable for poor rural farmers – requiring paid lab analysis and travel to distant facilities. AgroCares addresses this by enabling in-situ testing at minimal cost per sample. Public or cooperative sector initiatives often purchase the device and then offer testing services to members at subsidized rates or for free.

Under 18: Positive low

No direct impact. Increased food productivity and therefore revenues in farming families allows parents to match their economic needs with less support from the young generations, which could allow the young them to spend more time in higher education.

Women: Positive medium

The scanning technology is gender-neutral in design – it can be utilized by both men and women farmers. While AgroCares did not originally set out with a specific gender focus, there is evidence that it can particularly empower women in agriculture. A market analysis by Mercy Corps Agrifin and Busara found that although young farmers were more likely to try soil testing, women were even more likely than men to follow through on the recommended actions after testing

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

The scanner device has been designed for use in diverse climates and field conditions worldwide. It is rugged, portable, and built to withstand harsh environments. According to its technical specifications, the unit is IP65 rated – meaning it is dust-tight and resistant to water jets – and it passes standard drop/shock tests.

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

By using the scanner’s insights, farmers can make their operations more resilient to climate extremes and variability. A key feature is the monitoring of soil organic matter and carbon content – crucial indicators of soil health. Healthier, carbon-rich soils have higher water holding capacity and better structure. In fact, soil organic matter can increase a soil’s water retention by roughly 25–35% in loamy soils.

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

The AgroCares approach encourages balanced nutrient management and reduced chemical overuse, which benefits both soil biodiversity and the broader ecosystem. Regular soil analysis promotes nutrient balance – farmers correct deficiencies and avoid surplus fertilizer applications. This is important because heavy, imbalanced fertilizer use (especially of nitrogen and phosphorus) can degrade soil life and microbial diversity over time.

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Compared to a traditional wetchem laboratory, Agrocares does not use any consumables, which reduces all the footprint caused by all these reagents. Secondly, sample movement from the farm to the laboratory is not required when using the sensor, which nullifies all the transporting and logistics related emissions.

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Inefficient environmental externalities (e.g. N leaching, P leaching, water pollution) caused by farming systems can be reduced with regular testing and by adopting the recommendation offered for soil management, leaf fertilization and feed formulation.

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

The technology is specifically designed to have a drastic improvement on soil fertility, health and nutrient cycles.

Water use: Much less water used

If farmers follow the irrigations advice which can be formulated with a test from the Agrocares scanner (we produce reports on texture class and water related soil functions), less water can be used while maintaining productivity targets.

Problem

Extension Services Lack Field-Based Tools
Public extension officers often have no access to portable diagnostic equipment to support farmers on-site.
Inefficient and Wasteful Fertilizer Use
Farmers apply fertilizers without testing, leading to low input efficiency, yield losses, and soil degradation.
Conventional Testing is Inaccessible
Lab services are expensive, slow, and unavailable to most rural areas, limiting coverage and timeliness.
Weak Data for Policy and Program Design
Governments lack up-to-date, field-level nutrient data to support subsidy targeting, soil mapping, or policy planning.

Solution

Portable Diagnostic Tool for Extension
The scanner equips field agents with a fast, non-chemical method to assess nutrient status directly on-farm.
Data-Driven Fertilizer Use
Reports guide smarter application of fertilizers, reducing waste and improving productivity.
Supports Public Programs at Scale
The device works offline for scanning and only needs internet to sync, making it ideal for rural coverage.
Feeds into National Soil Data
Scans generate real-time data that can inform policy, subsidy targeting, and land management strategies.

Key points to design your project

Governments can transform national extension and soil health programs by adopting portable soil diagnostic tools that offer rapid, localized results.

Integration Steps:

Procure & equip staff
Distribute scanners along with smartphones and valid app licenses to extension officers. Ensure compatibility with Android 6/iOS7+.
Deliver comprehensive training
Conduct hands-on workshops with demonstrations, printed guides, and regular refresher sessions—following successful models like those used in Bungoma County, Kenya.
Embed into field visits
Agents use the scanner during routine farm visits to test soil, leaf, or feed samples on-site. Results are shared instantly to support fertilizer or feeding decisions.
Centralize data collection
Sync scan data to a cloud database to generate nutrient maps, monitor soil fertility trends, and inform national fertilizer subsidy or land restoration policies.
Engage communities
Use local demos and farmer mobilization events to build trust, with support from local leaders and cooperatives to encourage widespread adoption.
Evaluate & iterate
Monitor usage (e.g. scans per agent), collect farmer feedback, and assess changes in input use or productivity to refine rollout strategy.

6695 USD

Unit Cost of Scanner

ROI: $$$ 30 %

Return on investment per year

1950 USD

Yearly Licence for Soil Testing

2500 USD

Yearly Licence for Leaf or Feed Testing

IP

Patent granted, Copyright, Trademark

Maturity of the idea 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 9

Common use by intended users, in the real world

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Angola	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Burundi	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Cameroon	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Comoros	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Côte d’Ivoire	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Egypt	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Eritrea	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Ghana	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Malawi	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Morocco	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Mozambique	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Namibia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Niger	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Republic of the Congo	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Rwanda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Somalia	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
South Africa	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
South Sudan	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Sudan	Testing ongoing	–Not tested	–Not adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

Goal 1: no poverty

Improvement of fertility would cause yield increase, and therefore possibility to trade and improve rural economy.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Finding the causes of yield gap (soil or leaf related) or can reduce food insecurity. Agrocares maximises food production by boosting fertilizer use efficiency (which is a known problem in Africa) and collecting big datasets of farmer information and productivity maps. Likewise testing animal feed increases the biomass conversion rate in animal products. Testing plant material can diagnose micronutrient deficiency, which is the cause of the "hidden hunger" in developing countries. Hidden hunger refers to micronutrient deficiencies (vitamins and minerals) despite adequate calorie intake.

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Digital agriculture offers new opportunities of employment and market growth.

Goal 13: climate action

The Agrocares scanner can measure carbon stocks (Carbon Monitor Solution), which allows public or private stakeholders to account for carbon removal and evaluate if soil management practices are contributing to climate mitigation.

Goal 15: life on land

Improving fertilizer use efficiency would mean reducing wasted nutrient which do not end up in the plant biomass. This negative externalities are known to impact biodiversity.

Scan
- Collect a small sample of soil, leaf, or feed.
- Hold down the scanner’s button and take 3 fast scans. The device uses near-infrared (NIR) light to capture the sample’s chemical fingerprint.
Upload
- The scanner connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth and uses the official AgroCares Scanner app.
- Scanned data is held offline and automatically uploads when internet access is restored.
Analyze
- Uploaded data is sent to AgroCares’ global database, where it’s matched against thousands of samples.
- Within about 10 minutes, the app returns nutrient values calculated by advanced algorithms.
Act
- You receive a digital report in the app and on the web portal.
- It displays nutrient levels and offers practical recommendations for fertilization, crop nutrition, or feed improvement.