Modern Farming: Artificial Intelligence(AI) in Agriculture

               "In Winter's Chill Or Summer's Heat A Farmer Works So That The World Can Eat" 
                                                                                                                            -Anonymous

Agriculture in it's broadest sense is the production of commodities which maintains life including food, fibre, horticultural crops & their related services. It has enabled the human population to grow even at times larger that what could be sustained by mere hunting & gathering.

Over the years agriculture has transformed with improved technologies & techniques that has led to significant rise in production & productivity. Thus, technological advances has redefined agriculture in more than one way. 

Why New Innovation?

Firstly "Increasing population": 

The 2020 World Polulation Data sheet indicates that  the world population is projected to increase from 7.8 billion in 2020 to 9.9 billion by 2050 leading to a greater pressure on the limited & confined land.  The conventional method of farming will not be able to tackle this huge demand. 

Secondly "Risk & Uncertainity":

Agriculture is an industry involving greatest risk as in case of ill weather, disease outburst or global pandemic farmer can hardly talk about yields & can't even think of profits. 

All these above mentioned problems are driving agricultural researchers & scientists to find newer ways to reduse wastes , increase production, predict weather etc., 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) implementation in agriculture is thus one of the most promising oppurtunities.

Artificial Intillegence(AI) & Agriculture

Artificial Intelligence refers to the ability of a digital computer or a computer controlled robot to perform human like tasks by processing large amounts of data & recognizing patterns of data.

a) Intelligent spraying: Precise spray on weeds by using developed robots that leads to considerable elimination of weeds & expenditure on chemical herbicides.

b) Employment of drones: For spraying & crop monitoring.

c) Disease diagnosis: Sensors can be used to detect & target the diseased crops.

d) Bulk Harvesting of crops including fruits is possible with improved accuracy & speed.

e) Informed Decision making: Farmers can get valid recommendations based on well sorted real time information based on crop needs.

f) Controlled & timely irrigation: The sensors can be employed to estimate the water needed & by the aid of drippers deliver water directly at the root zone itself thereby reducing water use to a great extent.

f) It can also be employed to predict

       -best time to sow

       -crop yeild 

       -price forecast 

by monitoring crop health on real time basis, using satellite imagery & weather data. 

According to International Federation of Robotics as many as 25,000 robots have been sold matching the number used for military purpose & making Agricultue the second largest industry deploying robots for professional use

CHALLENGES:-

The benefits of AI are undeniable. 

However, it isn't that easy for farmers to understand & develop the infrastructure of technology as they often seem confusing & unreasonably expensive as well.

This resistance is due to their lack of understanding of practical applications of AI tools.

Hence, it is the role of Agri Tech providers & extension workers to help farmers understand why their solution of using AI  is useful, the way to implement it, its working & the long term benefits associated with it on their farm.

CONCLUSION:-

Artificial intelligence(AI) is thus doubtlessly a great boon & big leap from conventional to smart agriculture promising higher crop yields with better quality while using fewer scarce resources.

Along with efficient tackling of resources it also proves to be solution oriented approach for creating a bright future for Farmers all around the globe. 

References: 

https://www.wipro.com/holmes/towards-future-farming-how-artificial-intelligence-is-transforming-the-agriculture-industry/#:~:text=AI%20systems%20are%20helping%20to,to%20apply%20within%20the%20region.

https://intellias.com/artificial-intelligence-in-agriculture/