New agroclimate app delivers real-time climate and crop insights

For years, farmers have had to rely on nothing more than experience and a watchful eye on the sky to make weather-based decisions.

Now, with just a few taps, they can access satellite-powered data that helps them decide when to water, fertilize, and harvest — all through a new app from researchers in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The Agroclimate Viewer and Planner App (AgroVAP) is a free web tool that provides insights into crop health, weather forecasts, soil conditions, and climate patterns. Built on Google Earth Engine and powered by open-access geospatial databases, the app is intended to bridge the gap between agricultural research and practical, on-the-ground decision making.

“There is a tremendous amount of agricultural research happening, but very little of it is immediately useful to the end users — our farmers — mostly due to the lack of user-friendly and low-cost resources,” said Abhilash Chandel, assistant professor of precision agriculture technologies and data management in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering and lead developer of the app. “AgroVAP is designed to change that by offering a user-friendly, no-cost solution for growers.”

The Agroclimate Viewer and Planner app addresses several longstanding challenges in agriculture, including the limitations of traditional crop assessments and the high cost and complexity of existing decision-support tools. Users can draw field boundaries, select parameters, utilize satellite imagery and their vegetation index, and access 16 days of hourly forecasts to make informed decisions related to spraying, irrigation, fertilization, and harvest timing.

“This is more than just a tool – it’s a catalyst for the future of farming,” said Anthony Jones, a farmer from Dinwiddie County, Virginia, who has used the planner tool. “It unlocks smarter, more profitable, and more sustainable agriculture.