Kickoff for »FarmScan« | Reading time: 3 min.

Biodegradable sensors for sustainable agriculture

Duisburg, Oktober 21 2025 – New sensor technology for better harvests and less environmental impact: In the FarmScan project, researchers from Fraunhofer IMS, the Università degli Studi di Udine, and University College Dublin are developing innovative soil sensors that decompose in an environmentally friendly manner after use and are designed to make agriculture more sustainable and precise.

© Conor Kohoe, UCD
The image shows barley residues being incorporated as part of experimental work at UCD Lyons Farm, where some of the FarmScan experiments will take place.
© Fraunhofer IMS
The image illustrates the FarmScan concept with a non-functional demo in the form of a battery-free RFID transponder that monitors soil moisture.
© Fraunhofer IMS
A picture from the virtual kick-off in October 2025: 1st row: Felix Essingholt (IMS), Benedikt Loepp (IMS), 2nd row: Guido Fellet (University of Udine), Sebastian Böller (IMS), Niki Martinel (University of Udine), 3rd row: Sharon O'Rourke (University College Dublin), Tamíris Da Costa (University College Dublin), 4th row: Guido Incerti (University of Udine)

In October, the European research project FarmScan was launched. Led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS, it is exploring innovative ways to make precision farming more environmentally friendly. The aim of the project is to develop biodegradable soil sensors that provide farmers with accurate data without harming the environment.

Funded by the Green ERA Hub and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMFTR), FarmScan aims to close the gap between reliable data collection and environmental sustainability. The aim is to develop sensors that continuously measure relevant soil parameters such as moisture and nutrient content and dissolve into harmless materials at the end of their service life. This eliminates the need for laborious collection and enables large-scale, high-resolution data collection.

»A new chapter in agricultural technology«

»With FarmScan, we are opening a new chapter in agricultural technology,« says Dr. Benedikt Loepp, project coordinator at Fraunhofer IMS. »We are combining high-precision sensor technology with sustainable materials and intelligent data processing, thus taking an important step toward resilient, climate-friendly cultivation systems.«

In addition to Fraunhofer IMS, the Università degli Studi di Udine and University College Dublin are project partners. Together, they will develop passive, chip-less RFID sensor nodes, research suitable biodegradable material systems, and integrate the data into an AI-supported platform that provides farmers with decision-making aids and recommendations for action on irrigation and fertilization. In addition, comprehensive decomposition and life cycle analyses as well as trials under real cultivation conditions will be carried out on the partners' experimental farms to demonstrate ecological effectiveness and practical suitability.

FarmScan contributes to more sustainable agriculture, strengthens adaptability to climate change, and improves food security in rural areas: a model project with an impact far beyond Europe. The project is part of the Green ERA Hub program, which is funded under the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under contract number 101056828.