Farmers using traditional agricultural methods might be facing so many challenges. Climatic conditions like temperature, rainfall, and humidity mean a lot in crop production. The increasing rate of pollution and deforestation has contributed to adverse climatic changes. Consequently, farmers have a hard time deciding when to plough land and sow; hence the harvesting seasons are more unpredictable than ever before. One of the latest inventions that can solve these problems is AI. You might be wondering, ‘how is AI used in agriculture?’ See below ways artificial intelligence is making a difference in agricultural lands.
The use of AI to Identify Nutrient Deficiency
Did you know that each crop needs specific nutrition, and deficiency of one nutrient, say nitrogen, potassium, or phosphorus, may cause stunted growth and low yields? As you know, weeds protection is a critical aspect of the agricultural cycle. If left uncontrolled, weeds increase the production cost and exhaust nutrients meant to benefit plants. An AI-based technology has been developed to detect nutrient deficiency in the soil. It can also identify diseases and pests that are hindering plant growth. The invention comes in the form of a mobile app that recognizes images. AI uses algorithms to assess the pictures and give comprehensive reports regarding the soil condition. With this tech, farmers will have an idea of what fertilizer to apply to boost the harvest. In the app, you’ll also find soil restoration hacks as well as short videos. Other machine learning innovations are geared towards soil analysis. Such applications help farmers to monitor the crop and soil’s health conditions and see the way forward.
Automated Robotics for Manual Work
Artificial intelligence has come to help with workloads facing the farmers. When integrated into IoT devices and tractors, robotics can solve the issue of shortage of labor. This is a cost-effective and accurate method of farming. Autonomous tractors can be the secret to precision agriculture because they are more accurate. Agricultural robots are also used in thinning lettuce, picking vegetables and fruits. Unlike hiring farm workers, these tools work for longer with minimal errors.
Weather Forecasting
Given the drastic climate changes, timing when to sow seeds has become a hurdle. But the AI used in agriculture helps to analyze weather so that farmers can plan what crop to grow and when to start planting. Predictive analytics is a game-changer. The more the information is available at hand, the easier it becomes to plan various farming events like planting and harvesting.
With the rate at which AI is developing, it is expected that small scale farmers will soon become agricultural technologists. They’ll be using data to maximize yields with fewer resources.
