According to a recent Markets and Markets report - in the year 2016 the A.I. in agriculture market was valued at USD $430 million and is expected to grow to USD $2,600 million by 2025. This is a compound annual growth rate of 22.5%. That's huge.
Netherlands World Leader In A.I. in Agriculture
Did you know the Netherlands is the second biggest importer of food in the world? As well as being the worlds number one producer of tomatoes?That is very surprising because it is small (only 45,543 square km), densely populated and without a surplus of farmland. How did they do this? Answer = High tech. Wageningent University & Research (WUR) is in the center of what the Dutch like to call food valley, the Netherlands version of silicon valley. About 50 miles outside of Amsterdam, the valley is home to an assemblage of agri-tech start ups. WUR 's Professor of 'Sustainable Development and Food Security' Rudy Rabbinge was a leading force in transforming the institution into a world leader in agri-tech. Rabbinge was previously a member of 'The Scientific Council for Government Policy', which is a part of the Ministry of General Affairs of the Dutch government. This is a council whose mandate is to provide scientific information that can influence society in the long term. Rabbinge has called the WUR -
'...a university for the world, and not simply for the Dutch.'
Something like 45% of its graduate students find positions in agricultural ministries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. The results achieved in the Netherlands are possible anywhere. This is good news for the planet since the world population is projected to grow to 10 billion by 2050.
Agricultural Robots
Over a billion pounds of herbicides are sprayed on crops in the US annually. Robots have been developed that use computer vision to precisely spray weeds which could potentially reduce the amount of chemical usage by 80%.Also, in the US there are huge labor shortages in the agriculture industry leading to losses of millions of dollars per year. Companies like Harvest Croo Robotics are developing robotic crop pickers that will greatly help fill this gap. This company claims their robot can do the work of 30 laborers.
Crop and Soil Monitoring
By capturing information from drones and using computer vision and deep learning algorithms - many software based technologies are available for monitoring soil and crop health.Companies like Berlin based Plantix have developed a mobile app that uses the camera on your phone in conjunction with image recognition software that can identify defects and nutrient deficiencies in soil.Sky Squirrel Technologies combines computer vision and drone technology. The user pre-programs a route and can down load the data via USB to a home computer for a detailed analysis of crop health.
Predictive Analytics
Companies are stating to use images from satellites in conjunction with machine learning algorithms to predict weather patterns. Data points such as historic weather values, solar radiation, wind speed, precipitation and temperature are updated continuously. This is used in conjunction with drones to provide useful analytics to farmers to greatly improve efficiencies.
Conclusion
This is a fascinating area that will experience huge growth and will greatly benefit us all.