Drones checking fields for weeds and robots targeting and treating crop diseases. This may sound straight out of science fiction but it is actually happening already, at least on some experimental farms. Recently, researchers from different institutes are working on sustainable crop production with AI and smart devices.
The researchers from the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn are working to move forward the smart digitalization of agriculture. Going ahead with this development, there will be a need to consider some important research questions.
The University of Bonn is working together with Forschungszentrum Jülich, the Fraunhofer Institute in Sankt Augustin, the Leibniz Centre in Müncheberg, and the Institute of Sugar Beet Research in Göttingen on a big goal. They aim to make farming better for the environment and more efficient by using new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).
The researchers are from different fields like ecology, soil sciences, plant sciences, computer science, geodesy, robotics, and agricultural economics. In a recently published report they highlight the important steps they think need to be addressed first in the near future.
In their study, the PhenoRob researchers also show what current technologies can do. For example, they can make a digital twin of farmland and constantly give it various types of data with sensors. This helps in detecting things like root growth or nitrogen compounds released from the soil.
Highlights: Sustainable Crop Production with AI
Talking about these issues, Hugo Storm, a member of the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence, said, “One answer could be to use smart digital technologies. We’ve identified a few key research questions.”
- One is related to keeping an eye on farmland all the time. This enables to catch any lack of nutrients, weed growth, or pest problems as soon as they happen.
- Satellite pictures give an overall general idea, but drones or robots can do a much better job of looking closely.
- Robots can go over an entire field step by step and even check how each plant is doing.
Most of these problems can be reduced by using smarter methods. For example, instead of the entire field area, we can only spray herbicides on parts of the field where weeds are a problem. We can only try to treat sick plants one by one and only use fertilizer where it’s truly necessary.
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Current Situations
Currently, the Earth is feeding more than 8 billion people and the main credit goes to modern, high-efficiency farming. But this big achievement has an even bigger downside as cultivation methods used are harming the biodiversity. The production of synthetic fertilizers creates greenhouse gases, and the chemicals we use in farming are responsible for polluting water and the environment.
Dr. Sabine Seidel, who integrated the publication together with Storm, said, “One difficulty lies in linking all these pieces of information together.”
Dr. Seidel added, “For example, when will a low resolution be sufficient? When do things need to get more detailed? How do drones need to fly in order to achieve maximum efficiency in getting a look at all the crops, particularly those at risk?”
Sustainable crop production with AI and smart devices is possible but to fully use this digital change, farmers need to understand why it’s good. So, in some areas, the farming digital change is almost here.
