Be Mains Ready

• First briefly define the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Then enumerate the various application areas of AI in the agriculture sector such as crop and soil management; pest attack prediction; image recognition etc.

Answer

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.

In recent times, with requirements of higher crop yields, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a tool that can empower farmers in monitoring, forecasting, as well as optimizing the crop growth. Tackling pests, weeds, and diseases, monitoring farm animal along with soil and crop management are some of the thrust areas where the use of AI technology can pay rich dividends

AI technology can be used in the following areas in agriculture sector:

• Crop and soil management: With the development of AI technology, it is easier to keep a track and predict the right time for planting, irrigation, and harvesting. The advanced sensors and technologies make the entire task of crop and soil management uncomplicated for the farmers.
• Pest attack prediction: Common pest attacks, such as jassids, thrips, whitefly, and aphids can pose serious damage to crops and impact crop yield. Use of AI and machine learning can indicate in advance the risk of pest attack. This empowers the farmers to plan in advance, and benefit from reduced crop loss due to pests and as a result realise higher farm returns.
• Image recognition: Artificial Intelligence can also be used for recognizing weeds and assessing plant health. Use of AI can differentiate between plants and weeds by leveraging big data, and actively sprays weedicides on the weeds, but ignores the plants.
• Robotics applications: As the farmers are automating their operation, robots and drones have become an integral part of the agriculture farms and are assisting farmland owners to improve the yield and product quality.
• Animal husbandry: Generating and leveraging useful information through AI can help farmers to manage their livestock efficiently with minimum supervision. With AI enabled smart sensors, the automated milking units can analyse the milk quality and flag for abnormalities in the product.