Automation and AI will make Agriculture more Sustainable
The global population is projected to be 9.74 billion by 2050. On the other hand, total arable land will be more or less the same, owing to soil degradation, climate change, urban encroachment, and unequal land distribution. It is predicted that the total arable land will increase from 1.59 billion hectares to 1.66 billion hectares by 2050, which is not a considerable increase. People are also moving out of agriculture and looking for more prospects in industries and the services sector. This migration will create a significant shortage of farm labour and a threat to food security in many nations worldwide. With increasing strain on land and climate, farming practices are also required to be more sustainable in the future.
Enter Industry 4.0 of Agriculture: automation, AI, and robotics. We have already covered the effects 5G connectivity can have on the future of agriculture. Let us look at the innovations that will be the major actors in future farming activities.
Robots can help automate repetitive and mundane tasks, and they can do the same functions with great accuracy and precision. Automation and artificial intelligence will also help relieve the effects of the shrinking workforce looking for less arduous work. Autonomous drones and self-driving machinery, with the help of precision implements, will ensure that farmers have more time to focus on sustainability and profitability rather than dirtying their boots in the field. The data collected from these technologies, combined with analytics, can help decision making, optimize resources, and maximize yields.
Autonomous Weeding
Weeding is a relatively simple task for robots using the current optical sensors powered by artificial intelligence. Sensors can be easily programmed using supervised learning with a dataset that segregates typical plants and weeds. With current optical technology, weeds can be easily identified, and farmers can pinpoint the application of herbicides and fertilizers. The precision and control will minimize the use of chemicals on plants, and the final harvest will be much healthier. Robots can also be taught to pick those weeds if someone does not want to spray chemicals or have less space between their respective plants.
John Deere has come up with an autonomous sprayer with AI-powered See & Spray technology laced with high-resolution cameras that capture 20 images per second. These images are then processed, and identified weeds are sprayed with the treatment solution. This application helps in cost savings in terms of pesticides and farm labour with improvement in efficiency at the same time.
FarmWise is another company that offers weeding as a service in California and Arizona states of the USA. Their Titan FT35 is an autonomous weed pulling machine, and with their pay-per-acre model, they have been a go-to place for farmers during the pandemic.
Picking and Harvest
Different fruits and vegetables continue to flower and ripe during the season. As the significant workforce is available at the end of harvest season (employing throughout the season has a very high labor cost), a robot that can continuously pluck these fruits look appealing.
Rubion is a bot developed by Octinion, a Belgium-based company that picks ripe strawberries from plants. The data collected by this bot can also help in planning the harvest for the coming weeks. Such technology can also be rolled out to similar crops like tomatoes. Though these robots can only work correctly in indoor settings, the day is not far when we will see these bots out in the field.
Autonomous Tractors and Drones
Tractors have been an integral part of the different field applications. Though, as tractors are very effective at what they do, operating a tractor is also a very tiring task. Imagine you are sitting in your cabin sipping your cola during a hot summer day, and your tractor is out there pulling a plow and preparing the field for your next crop on its own. Companies like Fendt, Case IH, and John Deere are making it a reality with their autonomous tractors. With their feature-laden autonomous tractors, now one can work on their fields both day and night without any physical strain. Tractors chart out their path with GPS help, and the drawn behind implements have multiple sensors ensuring precise field application.
Fendt is working on Project Xaver, a swarm of smaller robots controlled by a logistics unit and connected via the cloud. The smaller robots can execute multiple tasks like seeding and fertilizer applications with great precision and minimal damage to soil due to their lightweight. As these robots are battery-powered, they have zero emissions and minimal sound.
Drones are also becoming an integral part of agricultural activities. Land scoping, crop growth monitoring, and fertilizer application are a few major activities carried out by drones with much accuracy and ease. The bird’s eye view of a field can bring out multiple concerns such as soil variation, irrigation problems, and pests and fungal infestations. John Deere has also developed drones for plant protection spraying and precise applications of pesticides. These machines can play a crucial role at different stages of the crop cycle.
Big Data for Better Decision and Planning
With all these sensors, laden on different machinery comes a massive amount of data with every second operation. This data is one of the most valuable assets on the farm (as they say, “data is the new oil”). This data is necessary for the systems to learn and improve their efficiency and precision. Farmers can chart out a course of action based on this data to further save energy and resources. The data can also help assess and apply the right amount of different inputs like fertilizers and herbicides. Companies like Deere or Case are turning into data powerhouses with all the data collected through their various devices.
Big data can also help different machinery like tractors and drones work in coordination with each other and enable a path towards fully autonomous farming.
Safe, Faster, and Fresher
With robotics, farm products will go through fewer hands from farm to plate. This will ensure that product that is reaching the market is clean and safe. Growers can pick their produce with the help of machinery and make them available on retail shelves by the next day with automation. Reaching the market within a day will give the best of nutrition and flavour to the end consumers. With streamlined production and better logistic services, the peak freshness can be assured to the people. Big data can help in retail demand estimation, which will help predict and omit intermediate storages from the supply chain. Automation will also improve the traceability factor, which has become an essential attribute for the retail consumer.
People need to have confidence in the future of food security. With labour shortage and land degradation posing a risk to sustainability, agriculture must achieve more with less. Robotics and AI are the most suitable tools to reach global food security and a better future. Automation facilitates new methods that take farming to new heights to minimize chemicals, conserve resources, and flex the food supply chain.
Future agriculture is high-tech, better informed, and empowered to produce more using fewer resources for a more sustainable future for all of us.
