For farmers in rural Kenya, a $10 soil test might seem like science fiction. But researchers at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada, are working to make it real — and they're using virtual reality to help farmers learn the skill without wasting a single seed's worth of materials.
The team developed Agrilo, a smartphone-based soil testing system that costs roughly $10 per use. Farmers collect a soil sample, mix it with a special liquid that changes color, and hold it up to their phone camera. The app reads the color to measure nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium — the same nutrients crops need to grow. This helps farmers decide exactly how much fertilizer their soil needs, cutting waste and boosting harvests.
"Reducing the cost of soil testing to approximately $10 can make routine testing considerably more accessible," said the research team in a paper published this year.
But cheap tools only matter if people actually use them. A 2025 survey of small farmers in Kentucky found that cost was the most-cited barrier to trying new farming technology. However, complexity, distrust of whether it would pay off, worries about privacy, lack of confidence, and not having enough time were equally important. Only about one-quarter of those farmers had adopted any precision agriculture tool at all.
That's where Agrilo VR comes in. The team built a virtual reality training platform that runs on a Meta Quest headset — the same kind used by some video game players. Farmers, students, and field workers can practice the complete seven-step testing procedure before ever touching real soil or chemicals. Each step must be completed correctly before moving to the next, building muscle memory and confidence through repetition.
"The barrier was never only cost," the researchers noted.
The VR program includes a custom liquid simulation showing how reagents (the special chemicals) mix and change color as they would on an actual workbench. This is key: reading color changes correctly takes practice, and trainees can repeat the process as many times as they need without using any physical materials. With farmers' consent, the platform also collects anonymous data showing which steps users find hardest, helping educators improve the training.
The project spans four continents. The MacEwan team collaborates with Dr. Abel Méndez Porras at Tecnológico de Costa Rica, and the system is being tested in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Medicine Hat, Alberta; Costa Rica's San Carlos region; and Nairobi, Kenya. This global network helps ensure the training works across different languages, soils, and farming conditions.
Virtual reality won't replace hands-on learning entirely. But for a technology meant to reach smallholder farmers with limited access to trainers, it offers something powerful: the ability to practice anywhere, anytime, at zero cost. The goal is to put reliable soil knowledge — and the confidence to use it — directly into farmers' hands.