AI in Agriculture: Key Trends
In the vast expanse of agriculture, where every seed planted carries the weight of feeding a growing global population, the infusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has sparked a revolution. As we stand at the cusp of a new era, the future of AI in agriculture technology promises to redefine how we cultivate, monitor, and sustain our crops. This blog delves into the exciting prospects that lie ahead as AI takes center stage in agriculture. Precision Farming 2.0 AI is poised to take precision farming to higher levels as technology evolves. Advanced sensors, drones, and satellite imaging fueled by machine learning algorithms will provide farmers with unparalleled insights into their fields. These technologies will assess soil health and crop conditions and offer predictive analytics for more efficient resource management. Autonomous Farming Systems Picture a farm where tractors navigate the fields autonomously, sowing seeds with precision, and harvesters discerning the perfect moment to reap the rewards. AI-driven autonomous farming systems are on the horizon, minimizing labor costs, optimizing workflows, and increasing efficiency. The result? Increased productivity and reduced environmental impact. AI in Crop Breeding and Genetic Enhancement The marriage of AI and genetic science holds immense promise for crop improvement. Analyze vast genomic datasets, accelerating the identification of desirable crop traits through machine learning algorithms. Genetic enhancement expedites the development of hardier, more resilient varieties and facilitates the creation of crops tailored to specific environmental conditions. Climate-Smart Agriculture AI is becoming a significant tool in adjusting to the climate changes impacting agriculture practices. Smart irrigation systems, informed by real-time weather data and soil moisture sensors, will optimize water usage. AI algorithms will help farmers anticipate and mitigate the impacts of climate-related challenges, ensuring sustainable and resilient farming practices. Computer Vision Computer vision is redefining agricultural practices by enabling detailed monitoring of crop health, precise weed detection, and automated fruit picking through high-resolution imaging and AI analytics. This technology facilitates early pest detection and disease diagnosis, ensuring timely intervention. By analyzing plant growth patterns and detecting anomalies, computer vision systems optimize irrigation and fertilization, significantly increasing efficiency and yield while reducing resource waste. Generative AI Generative AI is revolutionizing agriculture by simulating environmental impacts on crop yields, creating virtual models for optimal farm designs, and accelerating crop breeding processes. It assists in developing climate-resilient crop varieties by predicting the outcomes of genetic modifications, thereby reducing trial and error. Additionally, Generative AI can optimize planting strategies and predict future food demands, ensuring food security and sustainability in agricultural practices. The future of AI in agriculture is not just a vision; it is a roadmap to a more sustainable, efficient, and resilient global food system. As we embrace the potential of AI in agriculture, it is imperative to navigate the ethical landscape carefully. Responsible AI deployment involves addressing algorithmic bias, data privacy, and the impact on rural communities. Finding the right balance between ethical consideration and technological advancement is crucial for a sustainable and inclusive agricultural future. As we plant the seeds of change, we’re poised to reap a harvest of unprecedented productivity, sustainability, and abundance. While we cultivate tomorrow’s fields, the symphony of artificial intelligence orchestrates them.
GIS Technology: Enabling Pinpoint Precision
Unraveling the complexities of modern agriculture, it’s crucial to understand the recurring expenditures that the farming community shoulders each season. At the heart of these are the procurement of seeds and fertilizers, key expenses that can make or break a harvest. Traditional farming techniques rely heavily on manual methods, increasing the expenses braced. Its efficiency and productivity directly result from the skilled labor acquired to run a farm. This results in a best-case scenario that revolves around the farmer’s skill in uniformly applying fertilizers, pesticides, planting seeds, and more. It does not account for variability within the same field. The soil compositions, microenvironments, and microflora often differ even if they are in the same vicinity and are factors that cause this variability. This landscape diversity inevitably necessitates tailored approaches in terms of both the type and quantity of farming inputs, adding yet another layer of complexity to this age-old occupation. So how does precision farming account for this variability? GIS technology, metrological inputs, and custom software are all leveraged by precision farming to boost production by accounting for temporal and spatial variability, assisting farmers in making automated decisions to lower expenses and inputs while maximizing profit. The system cumulates multiple input points like weather data, soil data, tissue sample results, and more to create different types of prescription(s) for the fields. These inputs are fed automatically to the planter, which can apply the product using GIS technology. These systems can also display historical crop data and yields through their sensors located throughout the field. The Role of GIS Technology in Precision Agriculture Best case scenario: these seeds are planted uniformly across the field. Variability in the soil composition and growing conditions produces variability in yield outputs from various field zones. Applying fertilizer uniformly also has the same effect. Historically farmers have studied yield maps of their fields to create management plans based on historical yield data. GIS technology ensures optimal productivity from the soil by inspecting every square unit in detail. Based on soil data, weather data, and in-season satellite imagery monitoring of plant growth, GIS technology allows a farmer to focus on the best-yielding areas within the field, ensuring optimum use of resources and helping in averaging the yield from all variability zones. The reverse is also possible, with farmers minimizing resource allocation in low-yielding zones and saving on seed and fertilizer costs. GIS Technology use cases: Satellite images or NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) images: Users can see satellite images of their field showing how a crop is performing and take action accordingly Drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) images: Drone images are another way of checking crop health. Users can fly drones and see high-resolution field images during the growing season Rx maps(prescription map also called variable rate prescription): Using drone and satellite imagery, users create variable rate prescriptions, similar to how a doctor would prescribe medicine, except this is for the soil, with the focus being maximized yield. Boundary management through GIS tools: User can manage their farm/field and boundary using any GIS tool (e.g., a custom tool built using open layers). Users can then draw boundaries using the GIS tool or import limitations from other devices to map out their fields perfectly. Scouting: Technology partners like Tavant can build custom applications that help take pictures of the crops and maintain notes. Enabled with predictive AI algorithms, it can detect potential diseases. Tissue sampling: The user can take tissue samples during the growing season and make result-based informed decisions. Water management: The user can place sensors in the field to turn on sprinklers based on moisture presence. Benefits of GIS/Geo Spatial Technologies in Precision Agriculture: They help locate precise positions on a field, allowing for mapping creation. E.g., farmers can draw their fields geospatially on any map (such as Google Maps). There are open sources like Open layers, which provide Java Script libraries to display map data from different sources without requiring code change on the change of map provider. GIS tools/technologies help fetch satellite images from various satellite providers, intersect based on field boundary, display maps (such as NDVI), and more as a layer on the field. Users can see in-season images corresponding to their fields remotely. Depending on the requirements, private and Govt satellites (e.g., Landsat in US and Sentinel in Europe) are used to access these images of specific resolutions. Users can fly drones with high-resolution cameras over the field and get in-season images to take appropriate actions (E.g., a particular field area may need pesticides or any other special treatment). Going to every site to identify the insects/disease could be tedious. Identification is resolved by looking at high-resolution pictures provided by these satellites and identifying potential diseases. Custom apps are built with disease identification as the objective by feeding the image to machine learning models to determine the cause. Users can also use drones to spray fertilizers remotely with precision and efficiency. Not all areas within a field are the same, and different areas/zones may need additional treatment/seeds. E.g., we could put high population seeds in more fertile areas and other seeds in less productive areas. GIS tools (requiring custom implementation) allow users to divide fields into multiple zones/areas and write a prescription map for the entire field. Users can assign different seeds/products to various locations. This prescription map goes as input (through USB or cloud – in case the planter/combine has internet) to the GPS-enabled planter, and it automatically applies the product (along with the prescribed quantity) as per the prescription. Farmers can sit in an auto steering planter and physically see the planter driving independently and applying different seeds in different areas accurately. Users can also see the real-time output on the monitor, which applies to applications like liquid/solid fertilizer during the season. This data transfer from the planter cloud system to the precision ag application that farmers may use can also be automated. Farmers can plan to take tissue samples from different areas of the field (based on
The Big Leap: Tavant Accelerates Growth; Surpasses Significant Milestones
2020 is now – finally – hindsight. It was undeniably a year of unprecedented disruption. Merriam-Webster recently announced that the Word of the Year for 2020 is pandemic. However, my personal vote goes to perseverance. Despite the challenges and twists and turns, Tavant is so proud to have achieved several major milestones last year –thanks to the perseverance of our team. These significant milestones demonstrate our commitment to enabling clients across multiple tech industries to rapidly accelerate their digital transformation journey and provide the best possible customer experience. Aligned with this trend, the key milestones that helped fuel the company’s unprecedented growth include: Product adoption and new product launches The debut of the digital software factory Launch of Banktech business Key strategic alliances 20 prestigious industry awards including Stevie® Award for AI and Machine Learning Reflecting on significant milestones in 2020: Tavant saw a surge in growth and increased adoption of its flagship AI-powered product suite, Tavant VΞLOX. Tavant’s core growth acceleration also came through its Digital Software Factories (“Digital Factory”) at its new technology innovation center in Dallas. Tavant further expanded its fintech and digital lending business by launching its Proptech business, bringing technology and innovation together to address common customer challenges in this burgeoning sector of Real Estate. Furthermore, at the American Banker’s Digital Banking 2020 conference, Tavant announced its expansion to new business lines with the launch of its Banktech practice in New York. Tavant expanded its industry-leading aftermarket product suite beyond warranty with salesforce connectors like Field service, B2B, and CPQ, available on the service cloud. They work seamlessly in conjunction with Tavant Warranty and support the entire gamut of Service- lifecycle management for a wider and faster digital transformation. Tavant Warranty got featured in Salesforce road to recovery apps. 2020 proved to be a year of key successful alliances. The company teamed up with Microsoft and Land O’Lakes Inc. to help farmers generate new insights from their crops, leveraging AI technologies. Tavant entered a strategic partnership with Softworks AI to deliver the touchless mortgage promise. The company also launched FinDecision, which improves loan quality while enhancing the overall borrower experience. Additionally, Tavant FinConnect and FinLeads made their debut on the Salesforce AppExchange, the world’s leading enterprise cloud marketplace. Early 2020, the company got recognized for driving fintech innovation forward during the year and bagged a few major fintech industry awards. Additionally, it was named to prestigious IDC FinTech Rankings by IDC Financial Insights. Tavant was also named the winner of a Stevie® Award in the 18th Annual American Business Awards® in the Business Technology category for Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning solutions. Furthermore, Tavant’s next-gen quality engineering (QE) business was recognized by Everest Group in its PEAK MatrixTM assessment report. Tavant was also recognized as a leader in the IDC MarketScape for manufacturing warranty and service contract management applications and made it to the IDC TechScape: Worldwide Service Life-Cycle Management and Servitization Optimization in Manufacturing, 2020, where it was mentioned in Service Analytics and Business Intelligence and Warranty Software sections. The company was also mentioned in the aftermarket, professional, and life sciences services section in the IDC Market Glance: Next-Generation Automotive and Transportation Strategies report. Empowering businesses to build resilience for today and what is ahead. Tavant is grateful to its associates, partners, and community for navigating through the pandemic together. This adversity presented a historic opportunity for innovation and digital transformation. Tavant is uniquely positioned to leverage its technical and domain expertise to drive value for all its partners. We built a solid foundation in 2020 and are planning to continue to execute our strategy in 2021. We aim to empower companies to accelerate their digital transformation journey to respond, recover, and thrive in the new normal reality in a most secure and cost-effective way. These significant milestones are a true testament to how our customers bolster their digital strategy to improve profitability and enhance their customer experience using Tavant’s products and solutions. We will continually support your digital journey and help you rise to new levels of business resiliency, and stay relevant in an uncertain world. To learn how we help our customers use digital to create value by reinventing the core of their business, visit www.tavant.com or reach out to us at [email protected].
Decoding 5 Key Digital Technologies Reshaping the Agriculture Industry
According to a 2015 report from the McKinsey Global Institute, agriculture is the least digitized industry; far behind healthcare, hospitality, and construction. Conquering agricultural challenges need to break through the weakest link of the food chain by using technology, with digitization as a keystone. In recent years, technology in agriculture, which is also termed as AgTech has drastically changed the agriculture industry. The digital agribusiness is undeniably real, and it’s here to stay. Digital will play a vital role in the agricultural value chain by providing targeted information, data-driven decisions, and recommendations, access to sustainable practices and finance opportunities. How do we do it? Organizations must adapt to survive and thrive People in the industry—farmers, food producers—must embrace the digital transformation trends in agriculture. By leveraging digital technology as a sustainable and scalable resource, organizations can take agriculture to new heights, keeping farm to fork in our future. The overall food production needs to double in a relatively short duration, to support the growing world population. Digitization in the agribusiness sector significantly increases the ability to feed the rapidly growing world population sustainably. Aware but unsure Research shows 90% of CEOs strongly believe that the digital economy will have a significant impact on the agriculture industry; however less than 15% are funding and executing on the plan. It’s fortunate that digitization is helping to connect agricultural concerns across the globe. But what does the future of farming look like? A few significant AgTech trends that are shaping the agriculture industry currently: Artificial Intelligence and robots Agriculture is slowly becoming digital and AI in agriculture is emerging in three major categories, (i) Agricultural robotics (ii) Soil and crop monitoring (iii) Predictive analytics. AI is bringing a revolution to the agriculture sector. Farmers are using AI technologies for sowing seeds using drones, soil mapping, and commodity pricing. Robots will soon be automating many farming processes and take over tasks such as weeding, fertilizing, seeding, or pruning plants. AI helps bring down the operational costs in farms, by reducing dependence on manual labor and allows agronomic expertise to make data-driven decisions. Use of robotics helps in reducing the use of harmful chemicals and contributes towards eco-friendly practices. Soil and crop monitoring by robotics helps in early identification of pest or disease attack and helps contain the damage and treatment costs. Blockchain Blockchain technology will also be a focus in the coming days. It is possible to have real-time monitoring of supply chain leveraging blockchain, and there will be more transparency in agricultural transactions. It is vital for both farmers as wells as consumers: it allows farmers to negotiate better prices throughout the supply chain while enabling consumers to have confidence in the knowledge of precisely from where the produce they buy comes. It is an essential aspect when considering the growing lack of trust in the sourcing of produce sold in markets. Analytics The agriculture sector is innately complex with a wide variety of crops, geographic environments, and climates. This industry has always been loaded with data but scattered across various channels; however, this is changing, and organizations have started unleashing the power of data and analytics. Organizations are now working with farmers to enable them to use data to better plan seeding, management, and harvesting. By making use of sophisticated computer algorithms to evaluate decades of the crop as well as weather data, these days farmers can easily predict crop yields with surprising accuracy, before planting a single seed. Internet of Things The Internet of Things (IoT) is allowing data-driven intelligent agriculture. Intelligent farming using the Internet of Things will enable farmers to reduce waste and enhance productivity significantly, ranging from the amount of fertilizer utilized to the number of journeys the farm vehicles have made. IoT can help in gathering real-time analytical data and take faster commercial decisions. Sensors Recent estimates indicate that in 2025 the global market value of agricultural sensors will reach 288.3 million dollars – a vast increase from its value in 2016 at 99.3 million. Farmers are increasingly using sensors and soil sampling to gather data, and this data gets stored in the farm management system that allows for better processing and analysis. Using sensors to collect data about crops – water requirements, humidity, soil temperature, etc. – is on the rise. Sensors in the field measure soil and weather conditions such as humidity, temperature, and livestock data, while sensors on farming equipment give real-time insight into yield and quality parameters. Agribusiness leaders are learning how to leverage these technologies to: • Increase farming efficiency • Enhance customer experience • Create transparent and sustainable food supply chains • Implement new, sustainable business models • Manage market and price volatility • Engage with the right partners in business networks Connect businesses to the world of agriculture, and the world of agriculture to your business Digital technologies and analytics are transforming agriculture, making a farm’s field operations more insight-driven and efficient. Digital-based farm services are helping to improve business performance and boost yield. Tavant has combined digital technologies such as the Internet of Things with AI capabilities, analytics and its in-depth industry knowledge to help farmers increase their productivity and profitability. • A global digital agriculture company increased the productivity of growers and turned data into actionable insights leveraging Tavant’s AgriTech solution. • One of America’s premier agribusiness and food companies improved processes, boosted their yield, increased profitability, and enhanced customer experience by using Tavant’s AgriTech solution. Want to learn more? You are just a step away. We would be glad to arrange a meeting with you. E-mail us at [email protected] for more information.