AI in Farming – The Future of Agriculture

 AI, as we see it, is transforming all major industries, and agriculture is no exception.

What was the last sector you could think AI would affect? Is it Farming? The agritech industry has experienced the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI), which can transform everyday processes. AI changes the precision in agriculture, crop monitoring of the agricultural industry to predictive analytics, and autonomously managed crops.

Farmers’ day-to-day farm operations will become more optimal, and their decisions enabled with the use of artificial intelligence in increasing the yields, cutting the costs, and increasing efficiency. However, the number is significantly small. Most individual farmers and global agricultural companies still need to take advantage of the opportunities agricultural AI can bring to their farming operations.

The reasons can be more education or awareness of using AI in farming, and the other can be that the technology is obsolete. In these, we shall look at AI in the agricultural industry and how it can be of benefit. How can AI shape the future of farming? Do we really need AI in Agriculture? Let’s find it out together, and learn something incredible about AI in the farming industry.

Do We Really Need AI in Agriculture?

Global population growth, projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, will put significant pressure on the agricultural industry to increase crop production and maximize yields. The emerging food shortage can be addressed in two ways:

• The expansion of land use and the introduction of large-scale agriculture. 
• Introducing innovative practices and technological developments will increase the productivity of existing agricultural land.

Artificial Intelligence enters the discussion by analyzing data from various sources. AI helps farmers make data-driven decisions, optimize resource use, and reduce environmental impact. For example, the World Economic Forum reported that incorporating artificial intelligence into agriculture can reduce pesticide use by 60% and water use by 50%.

Artificial intelligence helps farmers significantly in terms of components, technologies, and applications. Predictive analytics and advanced farm and crop management systems ensure crop quality and delivery.

Companies determine and monitor the health of crops using satellite images and weather data. They can use big data, AI, and ML techniques to predict prices, calculate production and yield, and detect pests and diseases. They can advise farmers on demand levels, crop varieties to plant for best yields, pesticide use, and future price patterns. 

Many industries use artificial intelligence technology to increase productivity and efficiency. These technologies help people overcome conventional barriers in all fields. Finance, transportation, healthcare, and agriculture are among the industries that use AI applications. Farming can support the growth of every country’s economy. 

What are the benefits of using AI in agriculture?

Using any technology in this era has some benefits and challenges. Here are some of AI’s benefits in agriculture, which can help you better understand its use in farming. As you know, AI can be used in every industry; now, it’s time to explore some benefits in agriculture.

Increased Crop Yields

Artificial intelligence helps increase farm productivity. Automated and autonomous agricultural functions, artificial intelligence-based production, and crop management improve the field’s net production. Artificial intelligence picking, packing, and sorting enhance food production, packaging, and sorting.

• Artificial intelligence enables farmers with technologies like robots, drones, and more that help in cultivating and harvesting plants. It also benefits overall field performance by targeted irrigation, weed control, and crop management.
• According to a report from the Precision Agriculture Development Trust, precision farming can lead to more than a 30% increase in crop yields.

Improved Soil Health

Artificial intelligence in computer vision technology is used to monitor both crops and soil. It can detect and analyze crop maturity and soil quality much more efficiently and quickly than humans.

• Modern farming approaches like vertical farming could significantly increase food production with minimal resource use. Additionally, reduced herbicide usage leads to lower costs, while maintaining high crop quality and increasing farmers’ profits due to significant cost savings.
• The United States is the country that uses artificial intelligence in agriculture the most. About 45% of the worldwide market comprised the North American market, while 24% was in Europe.

Reduced Pesticide Use

Artificial intelligence can be used to spray chemicals, intelligently providing cost savings. AI sensors can detect and target weeds and decide which herbicide to use, helping reduce the use of herbicides and save money.

Reduced Water Use

AI algorithms enable autonomous crop management. Combined with IoT sensors that monitor soil moisture levels and weather conditions, algorithms can decide how much water to supply in real time. The autonomous irrigation system conserves water and promotes sustainable agricultural practices.

Increased Efficiency

Artificial intelligence can give farmers real-time crop yields and help them identify areas needing irrigation, fertilization, or pesticide treatment. This can help reduce water use and improve performance. 

In addition, many farms use artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning and computer vision to monitor livestock health or monitor equipment. These tools can help farmers optimize their operations and increase overall efficiency.

In What Ways Is Artificial Intelligence Transforming Agriculture?

Acknowledging the widespread benefits of incorporating AI in agriculture, many companies have started working on AI development solutions catering to various agrotech roles. Some of the most common and practical use cases of AI in agriculture are as follows:

Prediction of weather

Artificial intelligence technology helps predict weather and other critical agricultural conditions, such as soil quality, groundwater, crop rotation, and the detection of plant diseases. Crop health monitoring is possible with soil and plant sensors and multispectral photos from satellites or drones.

For instance, agricultural AI tools are data-centric, utilizing autonomous tractors, smart drones, ground sensors, and other technologies to help farmers enhance their operations. Many agricultural companies have adopted AI to develop precision agriculture and predictive analytics that can help farmers predict weather conditions and thus avoid potential disasters.

Predict plant diseases

Artificial intelligence can help predict the best combination of agricultural products, find the best irrigation schedules, and plan the application of nutrients. With the help of artificial intelligence, harvesting can be automated, and its ideal time can even be predicted. The application of predictive analytics can completely transform industries.

Real-time forecasting is possible in field management using high-quality imagery from systems such as drones. During cultivation, predictions are made by creating forage and field maps and identifying areas where crops need more or less water, fertilizer, or pesticides. Cognitive solutions provide farmers with valuable information about soil conditions, weather forecasts, seeds, and infections in a given region.

Crop and soil monitoring

A typical application of artificial intelligence is crop and soil monitoring. Drones, the Internet of Things (IoT), and external satellite imagery can collect data that AI-powered applications can track and analyze to find the best answers. Artificial intelligence applications support knowledge of soil imperfections, plant pests, and diseases. Agricultural mobile apps can help farmers evaluate crop data, monitor their operations, track weather changes, and manage their farms more efficiently.

Predicting pest attacks, analyzing satellite or drone imagery, identifying trends in pest activity, and checking new data for warning signs of an imminent attack.

Identifying locations for sowing specific crops

By analyzing the images provided by drones, AI can help agricultural workers choose optimal planting locations based on the area’s geographical features, the soil’s chemical composition, or other criteria.

The AI ​​can scan images of seeds and compare them before planting them with whole seeds. Artificial intelligence has successfully studied or monitored potential soil deficiencies and nutrient deficiencies. The deep learning application of artificial intelligence supports the growth of vegetation analysis in agriculture. 

These AI-powered software tools support our understanding of soil imperfections, plant pests, and diseases. Farmers are using AI, computer vision, robotics, and ML to control weeds. Data is collected using artificial intelligence to monitor weeds, allowing farmers to spray chemicals directly.

Provide proper guidance on water management

Applications that give farmers the right advice on water management, crop rotation, timely harvest, optimal planting, insect infestation, and other topics that result from artificial intelligence in agriculture. Crop rotation, timely harvest, optimal planting, insect infestation, and other issues resulting from the application of artificial intelligence in agriculture.

Ready to Step into the Future of Agriculture with AI?

The benefits of AI in agriculture are undeniable. Smart farm tools, intelligent automation, and AI-enabled products perform repetitive and time-consuming tasks so workers can speed up the time on more strategic activities requiring human judgment. 

Are you looking for ways to apply AI to your farming setup? Whether it’s to control irrigation, the temperature of greenhouses, or anything related to automation, being able to do so from the comfort of your home or anywhere else through a phone application is a game-changer. As a leading mobile app development company, we are well-equipped to do this, amongst many other things. 

Partner with seasoned AI engineers and Machine Learning experts and take the next step towards a sustainable future using artificial intelligence in this agricultural industry. Cubix has more than 15+ years of experience creating transformative solutions and has worked with several Fortune 500 companies and startups, some already pioneers in the agriculture industry. 

Contact us today and let an AI-powered app make your dream farming industry a reality. Our experts are just one click away!