Artificial Intelligence 18SE02CE051

SECE4042 CE Batch-C

Application of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture

Introduction
Artificial intelligence technology is being adapted in different sectors like healthcare,
automotive, manufacturing, finance, agriculture and assisting them to overcome the
traditional challenges to boost productivity and efficiency. This blog explores the massive
adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the agricultural sector. We will also dive into the
most popular applications of AI in agriculture and some use cases. 

Deep learning is an artificial intelligence function that imitates the human brain in processing
data and creating patterns for use in decision-making. It includes modern techniques for
image processing and big data analysis with immense potential. Different deep learning
techniques are being applied to various agriculture problems such as disease detection, fruit
or plant classification and crop management process.

Applications of AI in Agriculture
Agriculture is the foundation of the world’s economy. In 2016, agricultural sectors
contributed to just under 1% of the US GDP. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
estimates that agriculture contributes around $330 billion annually to the economy.  There is
an estimation that the world will need to produce 50% more food by 2050 due to increase in
the population. Based on the research, the most popular applications of AI in agriculture fall
into below three major categories.

 Agricultural Robots: Companies are developing and programming autonomous

robots to handle essential agricultural tasks such as weed control, planting seeds,
harvesting, environmental monitoring and soil analysis at a higher volume and faster
pace than humans.   
 Crop and Soil Monitoring: Companies are investing in computer vision and deep
learning algorithms to process data captured by drones or by software based
technology to identify possible defects and nutrient deficiencies in the soil.
 Predictive Analytics: Machine learning models are developed to track and predict
various environmental impacts on crop yield such as weather and climate change.

Some use cases of Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture

1) Automated Irrigation System: One of the major drawbacks of conventional irrigation
systems is water wastage. With the help of advanced technology, many companies have
developed a sensor based smart irrigation system for optimal water usage. 

In this system, soil moisture and temperature sensors interact directly with embedded
components on the field and take care of required water distribution among crops without
farmer’s interaction. This system helps to maintain the desired soil, water range in the root
zone optimal for plant growth.

P. P. SAVANI UNIVERSITY 1
 Artificial Intelligence 18SE02CE051
SECE4042 CE Batch-C

 Several types of such systems are:

 Closed Loop System: This system is based on a predefined irrigation scheme the
control system takes over and makes detailed decisions on when and how much water
to apply.
 Open Loop System: This is based on the amount of water to be applied and the timing
of the irrigation.
 Time based System: This system works with time clock controllers.

2) Drone Technology: Drone technology in agriculture is already an essential part in

precision farming operations. The data collected from drones help farmers in achieving the
best possible yields.

Below are some of the areas where drone technologies are used in agriculture.

P. P. SAVANI UNIVERSITY 2
 Artificial Intelligence 18SE02CE051
SECE4042 CE Batch-C

 Monitoring field conditions: The drone is used to monitor the health of soil and field
conditions. Drones can provide accurate field mapping, including elevation information
that allows farmers to find any irregularities in the field. This information is useful in
determining drainage patterns and wet/dry spots.
 Product spraying and fertilization: Drones are capable of spraying plants with much
more precision than a conventional tractor. Yamaha RMAX is the first drone weighing
more than 55 kilos to carry fertilizer and pesticide tanks to spray plants. This helps to
reduce cost and pesticide exposure to workers who need to spray plants manually.
 Security: Drone security is being used in farm management. Drone cameras are used
to provide an overview of farm operations throughout the day to ensure operations are
running smoothly. Monitoring remote areas, which used to take hours of walking can
now be monitored in a few minutes with the help of drone cameras.

Challenges in AI adoption in agriculture

Though Artificial Intelligence provides huge opportunities for application in the agriculture
sector, there is still a lack of familiarity of high-tech machine learning solutions in farms
across most parts of the world. AI based robots cost a lot of money in research and
development and they also need maintenance to keep them running smoothly.

AI systems need a lot of data to train machines and to make precise predictions. In case of
wide agricultural land, though spatial data can be gathered easily, temporal data is hard to get.
For example, most of the crop-specific data can be obtained only once in a year when the
crops are growing. Since the data infrastructure takes time to mature, it requires a significant
amount of time to build a robust machine learning model.

Conclusion
The adoption of AI technology will be helpful in predicting weather and other conditions
related to agriculture like land quality, groundwater, crop cycle, and plant disease detection
which are critical problems. However, agriculture cannot be totally dependent on AI as they
cannot work outside of what they were programmed for. Also, farmers especially in rural
areas lack the technical knowhow and awareness about the existence of such technologies. As
more awareness is created and technologies become accessible to the average farmer, there is
a future where agriculture can be semi-autonomous with artificial intelligence leading the
way.

Artificial Intelligence in agriculture not only helping farmers to automate their farming but
also shifts to precise cultivation for higher crop yield and better quality while using fewer
resources.

P. P. SAVANI UNIVERSITY 3