Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture

another holy grail is hugelkultur. Bury agricultural waste beneath a foot of soil. You will get an amazing mycelial network that swaps sugars from plant roots to the fungi, with the fungi supplying minerals to the plant. And sure, go ahead, use sensors to make it all cool and measurable. I've tried this technique in my backyard shale soil. It works, including retaining moisture, so much less irrigation is required.