08-JCCE2202174 Online
08-JCCE2202174 Online
08-JCCE2202174 Online
Implementation of Artificial
Intelligence in Agriculture
Shivangi Sharma1, Kirti Verma2,* and Palak Hardaha1
1
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Lakshmi Narain College of Technology and Sciences, India
2
Department of Engineering Mathematics, Lakshmi Narain College of Technology, India
Abstract: Agriculture has a significant contribution to the economy. Agricultural automation is a major cause of concern and a relatively new
phenomenon throughout the world. The world’s population is quickly growing, resulting in increased demand for food and labor. Farmers’
customary techniques were insufficient to achieve these goals. As a result, new automated techniques were developed. These creative initiatives
met food demands while also providing work opportunities for a large number of people. Agriculture has changed as a result of artificial
intelligence (AI). This strategy has shielded agricultural production from a variety of threats such as weather, population growth, labor rights, and
food security concerns. The major issue of this is the numerous applications of AI in agriculture, such as irrigation, weeding, and spraying with
different sensors or other ways implanted in robots and drones. These technologies limit the use of water, pesticides, and herbicides, preserve soil
fertility, and help in the effective use of labor, resulting in increased output and quality. Many researchers make efforts to gain a quick overview
of the present state of automation in agriculture, including weeding systems using robots and drones. Two automated weeding strategies as well
as several soil water sensing technologies are explored. The drones are employed for the numerous methods for spraying and crop monitoring. In
this paper, we also discuss how AI should be combined with other technologies and applications of AI for solving farming challenges.
Keywords: artificial intelligence, herbicide, pesticide, automation, irrigation, machine learning, anomaly detection, computer vision, natural
language processing, conversational AI
1. Introduction the quality of their product, and assure a faster time to market for
their harvested crops owing to AI-based technological solutions
Crop varieties, irrigation, soil detection, crop scouting, (Figure 1; Abdullahi et al., 2015).
weeding, and crop establishing in the agricultural industry all Vertical farming is a type of agriculture in which food is grown on
benefit from artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions that help top of one another rather than in horizontal rows. Growing vertically
boost efficiency in all domains and handle problems faced by frees up space, leading to a higher crop yield per sq. foot of area
many organizations. Agricultural robotics are being developed in utilized. The worldwide human population is rapidly growing, with
order to give high-value AI applications in the aforementioned 9.9 billion people estimated by 2050, and food consumption is
industry. The agriculture industry is in peril as the world expected to rise by 35% to 56%. However, everyone is leaning
population expands, but AI has the potential to give a long-term toward building their own homes and owning property, as well as
solution. Farmers can create more output with less input, improve doing large-scale undertakings. Farmers have a tendency to think of
AI as something that only applies in the digital world. They may be
Figure 1 unable to see how it can assist them in working the real land. This is
Vertical farming not because they are fearful of the unknown or conservative. Their
resistance stems from a lack of awareness of how AI tools can be
applied in the real world (Ahir et al., 2020).
Because Agri Tech vendors fail to adequately explain why their
solutions are valuable and how they should be implemented, new
technologies sometimes appear complex and unduly expensive.
This is what occurs in agriculture when AI is used. Although AI
can be beneficial, technology companies must still do a lot of work
to assist farmers in properly implementing it (Ahirwar et al., 2019).
Agriculture entails a variety of processes and phases, the majority
of which are performed manually. AI can help with the most complex
and routine jobs by supplementing existing technology. When
integrated with other technology, it can gather and evaluate massive
*Corresponding author: Kirti Verma, Department of Engineering Mathematics, data on a digital platform, determine the best course of action, and
Lakshmi Narain College of Technology, India. Email: kirtivrm3@gmail.com even initiate that action (Aitkenhead et al., 2003).
© The Author(s) 2022. Published by BON VIEW PUBLISHING PTE. LTD. This is an open access article under the CC BY License (https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).
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2. Using Artificial Intelligence to Tackle Farming Farmers can use AI to get real-time insights into their fields,
Problems allowing them to spot areas that require irrigation, fertilizer, or
pesticide application. In addition, novel farming techniques such as
As previously said, AI cannot exist without the use of other vertical agriculture may assist improve food output while reducing
technologies such as big data, sensors, and software. Similarly, AI is resource consumption. As a result, herbicide use is reduced, harvest
required for the proper operation of other technologies. In the case of quality is improved, earnings are increased, and significant cost
huge data, for example, the data is not especially valuable. What savings are realized (Bakker et al., 2006).
matters is how it is processed and whether or not it is useful (Al-Ali
et al., 2015). 2.4. Artificial intelligence can help with workforce
When it comes to AI recommendations based on a collection of shortages
data, the time, place, and selection criteria all play a role. To make
AI technology work, it is also critical to have excellent data Agricultural work is difficult, and labor shortages are nothing new in
engineers and data analysts. Let us take a closer look at how AI is this business. With the use of automation, farmers can address this
used in agriculture (Albaji et al., 2010). problem. Farmers can save money by using driverless tractors, smart
irrigation and fertilization systems, smart spraying, vertical farming
2.1. Big data as a tool for making well-informed software, and AI-based harvesting robots. AI-driven farm tools are
decisions faster, tougher, and more accurate than any human farm worker
(Bendig et al., 2012).
The real purpose of data collection and production is to put it to
good use. Data analytics in agriculture can result in large production 2.5. Artificial intelligence can help with workforce
gains and significant cost reductions. Farmers can acquire credible shortages
recommendations based on well-sorted real-time information on
crop needs by merging AI and big data. As a result, guesswork Agricultural work is difficult, and labor shortages are nothing new
will be eliminated, allowing for more exact farming methods such in this business. With the use of automation, farmers can address this
as irrigation, fertilization, crop protection, and harvesting (Anand problem. Farmers can save money by using driverless tractors, smart
et al., 2015). irrigation and fertilization systems, smart spraying, vertical farming
software, and AI-based harvesting robots. AI-driven farm tools are
2.2. AI helps people make smarter decisions faster, tougher, and more accurate than any human farm worker
(Bhagyalaxmi et al., 2016).
Predictive analytics has the potential to be a game changer. Farmers
can collect and process substantially more data using AI than they could 3. Farming in Future
without it, and they can do so much faster. Farmers may use AI to handle
critical difficulties including analyzing market demand, projecting Another option comes from AI technology. Due to AI, the
pricing, and deciding the best time to sow and harvest (Anthony agriculture industry is undergoing a new era of transition, that is, for
et al., 2014). everything from employing from yield and soil monitoring to
However, AI can also acquire information about soil health, make disease diagnosis and data modeling, computer vision technology
fertilizer suggestions, check the weather, and track the readiness of has a wide range of applications (Bhaskaranand & Gibson, 2011).
product. All of this helps farmers make better judgments at every Agriculture is one of the the world’s oldest professions. As the
stage of the crop-growing process (Arvind et al., 2017). world’s population rises, so does the demand to cultivate and
produce more, better crops of the highest quality. AI and deep
2.3. Artificial intelligence reduces costs learning are examples of new technology. People in rural areas will
be able to access the same tools as city dwellers to tackle agricultural
Precision agriculture, a type of farm management, can help challenges such as low productivity, language barriers, and water
farmers grow more crops with fewer resources. Precision agriculture scarcity. Because of Alexa and Siri, a voice-style smart assistant
aided by AI could be the next big thing in agriculture. Precision programmer, people who do not understand or speak English will be
farming combines the greatest soil management practices, able to communicate with them. AI, machine learning, internet-of-
variable rate technologies, and data management strategies to assist things, cloud, and blockchain are buzzwords these days. We will
farmers increase yields while reducing costs (Figure 2; Bak et al., 2003). experience an innovative shift after the web, sometimes referred to as
Figure 2
Future scope in artificial intelligence
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Risk management
Forecasting and predictive analytics can help farmers
reduce errors in business processes and lower the chance of crop
failure.
Figure 4
The function of artificial intelligence (AI) in the agricultural information management cycle
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Seed breeding Rather than collecting aerial image data and training computer
AI can assist develop crops that are less prone to disease and and sense of direction models to use it for insightful crop and soil
better adaptable to environmental conditions by gathering data on monitoring, we can now employ drone technology (UAVs) to capture
plant growth. aerial picture data and train computer and sense of direction models to
use it (Figures 5 and 6). An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
Monitoring soil health This data can be analyzed and interpreted by visual sensing
AI systems that monitor soil health can conduct chemical soil AI to:
analysis and provide precise estimations of missing nutrients.
• Keep tabs on crop health.
Protecting crops • Predict yields with accuracy.
AI can monitor the health of plants in order to detect and even • Identify crop deficiency far more quickly than humans.
predict diseases, identify and eradicate weeds, and offer appropriate
pest control. AI technologies can alert farmers to particular problem
regions, allowing them to take rapid action (Chang &
Crops that are fed Lin, 2018).
AI can help in determining the best irrigation patterns and
fertilizer application times, as well as predicting the best 6. Observing Crop Maturity
agronomic product mix.
Researchers can learn more about crop maturity by collecting
alternate years and doing timely experiments on them. They will
Harvesting
learn about the crop ripeness from time to time, but this information
It is possible to automate harvesting and even predict the ideal
may not be correct. It is like putting on a show for wheat (Figure 7).
time for it using AI.
This vision-based idea was discovered to surpass human
objective observation in properly recognizing crop (wheat) growth
5. Crop and Soil Monitoring stages, eliminating the requirement for farmers to visit the fields on
a regular basis to monitor their crop (Figure 8; Choudhary et al., 2019).
Crop vitality, production amount, and quality are all affected by Farmers used to check the ripeness of tomatoes by visiting the field
soil micronutrient and macronutrients. Human’s sight and judgment everyday and checking them with their hands to see how they were
were used to measure the quality of the soil and crop health. developing, but today they must and-check the maturity of fresh
Figure 5
Farming by water sprinkling method in a large land drip irrigation system
Figure 6
Visual sensing AI
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9. Automatic Weeding
Physical weed removal not only saves the farmer time and effort,
but it also decreases the need for chemicals, making the entire
tomatoes on an industrialized level. Computers, on the other hand, have agricultural process more ecologically friendly and sustainable
made life easier in every way. Machines, for example, can check for (Figure 13; Dela Cruz et al., 2017).
waste and ripeness in factories; in the field, various AI technologies A group of scientists is striving to make this a reality by
allow farmers to assess the freshness of tomatoes without touching designing agricultural robots capable of detecting weeds and soil
them (Figure 9; Chung et al., 2016). moisture levels.
7. Hitting the Ground with Computer Vision 10. Farmers as AI Engineers: The Future of AI in
Agriculture
Farmers must collect soil samples and transport them to a
research facility for time-consuming and energy-intensive analysis. Agriculture has employed technology throughout history to
Instead, the researchers decided to investigate if picture-relevant enhance efficiency and lessen the amount of hardwork human
data from a ridiculously low easily portable scanning electron labor required in farming. People and agriculture have developed
microscope could be used to create training model to perform since the beginning of agriculture, from improved ploughs
the same thing. For monitoring insect and plant diseases, through irrigation, tractors to present AI. Another big step forward
deep learning-based image identification technology can be in this field is the expanded and more inexpensive availability of
used to identify plant pathogens and pests. This technique computer vision (Figure 14).
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Figure 10
Insecticides using AI method in farm
Figure 11
Insecticides using AI method in farm
Figure 12
Researches in farm testing of insects
Figure 13
With the help of AI and drone checking for the weeds at an exact place
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Figure 14
Anup Patil, a 28-year-old engineer, who quit his IT job to do farming in a village
AI has the potential to revolutionize agriculture in the twenty- analyze resource and job limitations in agriculture. Traditional
first century, given substantial changes in our climate, environment, methods required a large amount of work to get agricultural data
and global food needs by: such as plant height, soil texture, and content, which demanded
time-consuming physical testing. Quick and non-damaging high-
Improving time, labor, and resource efficiency. throughput phenol typing would be possible with the help of the
different technologies investigated, with the added benefit of
• Improving the long-term viability of the environment. flexible and favorable activity, on-demand access to information,
• Improving resource allocation’s “smartness.” and spatial goals (Doherty & Rudol, 2007).
• Providing real-time monitoring to improve the quality and health
of crops.
Conflicts of Interest
As a result, changes in the agriculture business will be necessary.
Farmers’ “field” expertise will need to be converted into AI training, The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this
which will need more technological improvements. Education costs work.
a lot in the agriculture industry. Agriculture, on the other hand, is no
stranger to innovation and adaptability. Computer vision and Informed Consent
agricultural robotics are two recent examples of how farmers may
use new technology to fulfill rising global food demand and Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants
improve food security. AI’s future hope is our next generation, included in the study.
which has the power to build chemical-free agriculture. Society’s
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